The Graduate Design Scheme is an opportunity for Goldsmiths Design graduates to return on campus and work on their own projects: for a fee, they can use a studio space, the workshops, and book machinery. This year, the Design department awarded two bursary places on the scheme to 2018 graduates; one of the winners is Ash Baigent, who will use her time in the workshops to continue her work designing and making unique skateboards.
Ash has been skateboarding since she was ten, and is now part of an all girl skate crew called Nefarious, who she met three years ago. There are few skateboarding women in the media, and even fewer (if any) are manufacturing their own skateboard decks. In fact, as Ash explains, skaters in England usually use decks imported from China or the US, and the designs can often be offensive or degrading towards women. The Goldsmiths graduate is keen to work on both the gender equality and the sustainability aspect of her favourite activity: she wants to bring more women to skateboarding and to encourage them to design their own decks. She’s also interested in making the decks themselves cheaper and more environmentally friendly, by experimenting with local, British wood instead of the usual American maple.
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