A FORMER fire service technician is hoping to set the fashion industry alight after making his mark in the design capitals of the world.
Cleveland College of Art & Design textiles graduate Roozbeh Ghanadi has been selected as one of just 15 young designers from across the globe to travel to Lake Como, Milan, to take part in the creativity sharing project comON.
The Hartlepool-campus based 29-year-old, who worked as part of the technical support team at Teesside Airport’s Fire Training School, had his work chosen by design industry experts after exhibiting his prints in London as part of Textprint 2013.
“I never thought anything like this would ever happen to me,” said Roozbeh, of Middleton St George, Darlington.
“When I was made redundant I had to think about what to do with the rest of my life and as I’d always loved drawing at school I decided to apply to do a 19+ course at CCAD.
“I thought that I’d specialise in graphic design but quite quickly, with the help of my tutors, I realised that textiles suited me much better and allowed me to be more expressive and creative with my drawing.”
After studying a three year BA (Hons) in textiles and surface design Roozbeh’s designs were put forward by tutor Claire Baker for Texprint 2013, a competition which mentors and promotes the UK’s most talented textile design graduates.
“I was on a work placement in London with the design studio Keelergordon when I got the call saying that I’d been chosen as one of 24 designers from over 200 applicants to take part in Textprint,” said Roozbeh.
“This gave me the opportunity to be part of an exhibition in London which was visited by dozens of industry experts and where I was selected to take part in the comON project.”
As well as having his work displayed in London, Roozbeh has also been showcasing his prints at the Indigo design show in Paris.
“I managed to get a lot of contacts from the Paris show which will hopefully translate into work when I get back from Italy,” said Roozbeh.
“I’ve already taken my portfolio to Anne Tyrrell at her design studio in Kensington, after she saw my prints at Indigo, and she picked out five designs to show one of her clients.”
Roozbeh has just flown out to Milan to take part in the two month comON project where he will take part in a full calendar of events, exhibitions, internships, meetings and workshops culminating in a creative exhibition in Lake Como.
“I’d love to get a job in Italy so I’ll be using the trip to network and make as many contacts as I can,” added Roozbeh.
“I always knew that I wanted to do something art related but when I was younger I didn’t have a clue how to go about it.
“CCAD has really helped me to focus on how to realise my full potential and laid the foundations for some incredible career opportunities.”
For more information on CCAD courses phone (01642) 288888 or log on to www.ccad.ac.uk.