17.07.07
New website showcases Falmouth's wealth of creative talent

A new website showcasing the extraordinary range of creative talent working and living in the Falmouth/Penryn area has been launched by students on the MA Professional Writing course at University College Falmouth.

CreativeFalmouth.org features 24 profiles of talented individuals who are making waves in the applied arts, design, film and TV, music, visual arts and the world of writing. Some are already well-known nationally and even globally, while others have only recently set out on what look set to be stellar careers. Interviewed for the site, they talk about their work and what being based in Falmouth means to them, with each profile illustrated by a portrait taken by a student on the College's BA(Hons) Photography course. The site also offers links to more information about the creative scene in Falmouth/Penryn and trails upcoming events in the area.

To achieve a highly distinctive visual identity for the site, the student team worked closely with Falmouth-based design and communications agency BRANDlab. Paul Bowden at BRANDlab was excited to take the project on. "It's a great idea to have a site that allows people to see just how much is going on here, and it's been a stimulating challenge to come up with a design that reflects this."

Professional Writing student, Sarah Oliver, who was in charge of the content for the Applied Arts section, says that selecting only four individuals to profile wasn't easy: "There's such a huge pool of talent in Falmouth and Penryn that we couldn't really hope to do more than skim the surface, at least to begin with. But there's lots of scope for the site to grow, and we plan to add further profiles as time goes on."

Another member of the student team, Joe Weir, explains that the project began with research into existing sites that set out to do something similar for other UK locations. "We found that many follow a tired and often confusing formula. What we've tried to do is let Falmouth's talent speak for itself on a well-designed and well-written site. Working with a professional team of website developers has been a real eye-opener for me as a writer, and it's been fascinating to meet so many talented people while researching the content for the site."

MA Professional Writing tutor, Tom Scott, believes the site will make a positive contribution to Falmouth. "Quite a few towns around the UK are pitching themselves as 'creative hubs', even though most can't show nearly as much in the way of genuinely exciting new work," he explains. "People tend to think of Falmouth as a historic port and a beautiful holiday destination – which of course it is. But, although University College Falmouth is well-known for the quality of its art, design and media courses, we felt the exceptional range of creative enterprise beyond the College deserves to be shouted about a bit louder."

Simon Myers, director of the leading London-based branding agency Figtree, whose clients include Orange, BlackBerry, Sothebys and Disney, commented: "We often draw on the talents of people based in Cornwall, which does seem to be seeing an extraordinary creative flowering of the sort that can happen at certain times in particular places. And nowhere is this more evident than in Falmouth."

Paul Sullivan, the College's Business Fellow in Professional Writing, helped to facilitate the project and says it was vital that such a potentially high-profile site was devised, written and designed as professionally as possible. "BRANDlab has done a terrific job with the design, but the students – both writers and photographers – have delivered great content. And, of course, that's what they'll have to do if they are to make a living in their chosen field, so it's been an important learning experience for them."

For more information, telephone Tom Scott on 01326 212960 or email tom.scott@falmouth.ac.uk.

For further information contact Jilly Easterby, Head of Public Affairs, University College Falmouth on 01326 213792 or email jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) project, both Phase 1 and Phase 2, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). University College Falmouth is a partner of the CUC.

Editor's notes:

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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