A MATURE student from York St John University has taken a lampshade he designed to a national design award competition.

John Hollington, who is in his second year of product design at the university, designed the “elica” pendant light which was shortlisted for the New Design Awards at the Interiors UK show at Birmingham’s NEC last week.

The shade was submitted under the Furnishing Accessories category, and shortlisted with three other designers from around the UK, from a longlist of 150 hopefuls.

Although he did not win the top prize, John said he was happy just to be shortlisted for the award and said it had “been a great experience” just preparing for the show.

He said: “The design was part of my coursework during the first year of studying for my degree. It’s made from fluted polypropylene sheets which are laser cut into shape and assembled by hand to create an interesting patterned lighting effect.”

Warren Fearn, head of programme in the faculty of arts at the university, said: “John was formerly a designer with civil and structural engineering consultants prior to joining the university as a mature student and his eye for precision is clearly evident within his work.”