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Work experience student's designs go on sale in John Lewis:
A University of Salford Product Design student has seen his coursework turned into a sales success after his work experience company placed it at John Lewis stores.
Paul Humphreys spent eight weeks on placement at audio visual furniture company Alphason, working one of the designs he'd created during his course into a real product.
Alphason Designs run a live design brief with the University each year and during this project Paul came up with the 'Pebble' TV stand which he worked on with the design team at Alphason in order to simplify manufacture and create a feasible mass produced product for market place.
The design team at Alphason continued the design process of 'Pebble' after Paul left and it has now been launched in to the market with major retailers including John Lewis already having placed firm orders.
Paul said: "This placement was a real eye-opener for me. It took the theoretical work I'd done at Salford and put it into practice. Working with Alphason's design team was a great experience."
His tutor on the BA (Hons) Product Design course is Craig Despard. "Paul's high energy and commitment has resulted in this excellent achievement, something his tutors are very proud of. It also reflects the Product team's emphasis on the employability of our students."
Alphason's commercial director Paul McCarthy said: "At Alphason we are particularly proud of our 'Designed in Britain' label and so we are delighted to foster and nurture the talents of some of the country's young designers in this way. We were delighted with the standard of entries submitted which made judging difficult. But Paul was a clear winner with his Pebble stand."
You can see more of Paul's designs at www.paul-humphreys.co.uk
