Middlesex Graphic Design and Illustration students gain paid industry experience

Emma Tominey is the artist behind From Barnet with Love, a borough-wide public arts project reimagining the postcard as a way of capturing life across Barnet today. Earlier this year, Emma ran workshops with our Graphic Design and Illustration students - a collaboration that grew into paid internships, paid freelance work, and a direct route into professional, community-facing creative practice. Here, Emma reflects on working with Middlesex students, and what the partnership has meant for the project.

From the classroom to a real-world project

Our collaboration began in May, when I delivered an artist talk about my socially engaged creative practice, followed by a mixed-media animation workshop. I was immediately impressed by the students' curiosity, creativity and willingness to engage with a live participatory arts project. What began as a university workshop developed into a much wider collaboration, creating opportunities for students to apply their creative skills within a professional context.

Paid work, real impact: Capturing Barnet then and now

Following the session, I commissioned six students through paid freelance content creation contracts to help build a rephotography archive for From Barnet with Love. Working with historic images of the borough, the students revisited and photographed locations as they appear today, creating a visual record of continuity and change across Barnet. Their work has become an important part of the project, featuring on our public activation stations and forming part of the wider exhibition and festival programme at the RAF Museum and Light + Flight Festival.

Three paid internships, real industry credentials

I also offered three students - Lauren Pinnock, Sarah Mubarak and Kevin Udalamattagamage - internships designed to give them practical experience of working within participatory arts environments and to explore socially engaged practice as a potential direction for their own creative careers. As part of the internship, all three received full training and DBS clearance to run workshops directly with the community - real professional credentials, not just classroom experience.

Lauren, Sarah and Kevin have been an absolute pleasure to work with and have shown tremendous promise as socially engaged artists. Each of them has brought their own creativity, personality and perspective to the project, while demonstrating a natural ability to facilitate, communicate with participants and make people feel comfortable and valued. Watching their confidence develop through working directly with communities has been particularly rewarding.

Building creative careers through industry partnerships

The collaboration continues to create opportunities for Lauren, Sarah and Kevin, who I'll be working with again in November as they support me in delivering Dear Barnet at the Light + Flight Festival. They've made a genuine contribution to From Barnet with Love, and I hope the experience has given them greater confidence in their creative practice and a clearer sense of what's possible beyond graduation.

Their journey illustrates how an initial industry connection can develop into meaningful professional experience. What began with a university workshop grew into six paid freelance content creation contracts, three paid internships and opportunities to contribute to a public-facing creative project.

Along the way, students have gained experience of paid creative work, developed skills in communication and community engagement, and contributed to work featured in exhibitions and festival programming. Just as importantly, they've built a professional relationship that continues to open up opportunities to apply their skills in real-world settings.

For graphic design and illustration students, experiences like these can help build a portfolio, strengthen employability skills and explore potential career paths, from freelance practice and design studios to arts organisations and community-focused creative work. Working alongside a practising creative professional also offers valuable insight into the realities of the industry, helping students develop the confidence and experience to take their next steps.

For prospective students, this is how industry partnerships can help bridge the gap between education and employment. By applying their skills to live projects, gaining paid experience and building professional relationships before graduation, students can begin developing the practical experience and industry connections that will support their future creative careers.

Find out more about our BA Graphic Design and BA Illustration courses.