HCA jewellery student wins major national award at New Designers

Friday Lawrence received the Association for Contemporary Jewellery Graduate Jeweller Award at New Designers 2026, held at the Business Design Centre in London earlier this month.

The award recognises outstanding emerging talent in contemporary jewellery, with judges noting the work’s “design concept, technical proficiency and heritage connections to craft tools and processes”. This collection was informed by family connections and a lifelong fascination with industrial and utilitarian metalwork and tools.

The high-profile award places Friday’s work in front of an influential professional audience spanning jewellery, craft, galleries, retail and collecting. She follows Cameron Pearson, an HCA BA(Hons) Artist Blacksmithing student now studying an MA at the college, who picked up the event’s top prize in 2025 - New Designer of the Year - and who has just been featured in the national publication Elle Decoration.

Friday’s win led a wider series of accolades and professional recognition for graduates from HCA’s School of Materials and Design during a busy and successful week at New Designers.

Work by HCA students attracted attention from organisations including the Society of Designer Craftsmen, The Conran Shop, The Goldsmiths’ Company, the Visual Artists Association, Find a Maker, Craft Cohort and Ezen Japan.

A number of promising conversations and professional follow-ups are already underway with creative industry leaders, employers, galleries and commissioners.

New Designers brings together graduating students from degree courses across the UK, creating a national platform for very best emerging designers and makers at the point when they are preparing to begin their professional careers.

Alongside the profile generated by its awards programme, the event enables students to present their work directly to employers, agents, galleries, commissioners, professional bodies, buyers and retailers - further building their professional network, and their confidence in pitching their work and their skills to industry.

Over the last five years, HCA has established a significant record at this prestigious event, including its group show winning Stand of the Year in 2024. Last year, Cameron Pearson [pictured below] received the overall New Designer of the Year Award, selected from thousands of the top UK graduates while previously Tom Hancock was awarded a Colour In Design Prize, along with access to a mentorship programme.

Friday is a great example of transformation, having returned to education, completing her degree as one of many mature student contributing to a diverse campus culture at HCA. 

Her course, like all degree courses at HCA, supports students to develop an individual creative practice through material experimentation, specialist workshop access and technical support, and engagement with traditional and contemporary approaches to jewellery design and making.

If you are interested in studying a creative degree - either as a college-leaver or as a mature student - HCA is offering campus tours throughout the summer. Simply email outreach@hca.ac.uk to arrange a visit, or to find out more about applying to start an undergraduate or postgraduate degree at the college this Autumn.