Emerging Talent at the Communication Design Degree Show 2026

D I A R Y

Jun 11

As I tick past my 20th year as a professional Graphic Designer, it’s been vital to engage with as many fresh new perspectives as possible to prevent the slow creep towards being an irrelevant dinosaur (maybe I’m there already?).

That’s why I was pretty chuffed to be asked by the Communication Design department of Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen to come in and visit a preview of their degree show. A chance to shake the crust from my tired middle-aged eyes and see the world through the class of 2026’s perspective.

The department covers Graphic Design, Illustration, Photography and Video, and there were some fine examples in each discipline, with many blurring the lines between them in vibrant ways. From the super playful cartoon-style illustrations of Robbie Walker’s ‘One of a Kind’ to the spray-painted feminist politico of Jenny Ross’s ‘Read My Lips’ project, the depth and breadth of subject matter was extraordinary.

I was tasked with picking two ‘Emerging Talent’ awards amongst the group, which proved a tougher task than expected. I’ll highlight the winners here and speak about some honourable mentions after…

Emerging Talent Award Winner 1:
Tegan MacDougall

I am a sucker for customised football scarves, and that’s what drew me to Tegan’s project initially, and I found myself there for much longer than others.

It’s easy to make ‘retro’ look a bit naff. But clearly Tegan had done the research into prominent programme designers from the 60s and 70s and infused them into a contemporary context for her print design. The pages brimmed with real confidence in typography, carried along by bubbly, warm nostalgia for the days when Football was more about community than commercialism.

The technical detail and the consistency swung it for me. I often see young designers who will have a punchy cover design, probably spend too much time on it, but when you get into the grist of the content, the type hierarchy and brand consistency ebb away.

But I was delighted to see a real craft to Tegan’s work. The layout of the puzzle pages had been considered as much as the bold typographic cover.

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Emerging Talent Award Winner 2:
Charlotte Ann Grant

Humour is a powerful political tool, and Charlotte uses it to stunning effect in her ‘FILLE’ magazine, which is central to her project.

She flips the garish design tone of ‘Lad Mags’ on its head and makes a feminist statement without feeling preachy because it’s so hilarious. The ‘Sexy Man Included’ on the cover immediately had me smiling as I leafed through it. Each page was bursting with irreverent ideas. A total treat to feel a designer confidently express themselves in a consistent.

Similar to Tegan’s work, the craft that carried throughout set Charlotte’s work apart. The initially scuzzy feel to the work was consistent and brilliantly carried across both print and digital.

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