The Bloom visuals in action. Image: Sophie Atkinson.
Behind ‘Bloom’: How three Manchester School of Art alumni came up with the idea for our 2025 degree show
17 June 2025
'It’s all about things coming to life'
Given that our alumni include L.S. Lowry, Steve Coogan, Julie Walters and Peter Saville, it’s clear that Manchester School of Art graduates go on to do incredible things. Alumni Laura Jackson, Ellie Thomas and Josh Beetham are no exception to this pattern, now working as designers at the Northern Quarter-based creative design and branding studio Instruct - whose clients include the BBC, Warp Records and Universal Pictures.
Each year, we have a tradition of inviting alumni to design our visuals for our degree show. We were delighted to welcome Laura, Ellie and Josh back to inject all their personality and experiences since graduation into coming up with a show identity. If you visited our 2025 degree show, ‘Bloom’, which opened last Friday, you will be familiar with their work: it’s a vibrant show identity featuring retro-inspired floral graphics doused in acid green. We spoke to them about how the idea came together and evoking the pre-degree show rush in your post-art school working life.
Can you tell me about the degree show identity in your own words?
The ‘Bloom’ concept is rooted in growth, progression and graduates emerging in the world. It’s all about things coming to life – a time of development and the process of achieving this. With three members of the Instruct team being Manchester School of Art alumni, we worked as a collective to build a campaign that reflects a variety of art forms and creativity, uniting different approaches and styles.
What was the inspiration for the Bloom design?
We developed bold, playful floral motifs to drive the visual approach. These were constructed by mixing and matching designs from different members of the team, taking each other’s work and remixing it with different materials and methods. We called this process cross-pollination – bringing in different styles, techniques and perspectives to create endless formations and unexpected combinations.
Can you tell me a little bit about your time at the Manchester School of Art?
Laura: Manchester School of Art helped me finally figure out what I wanted to do in life. I loved my time there and I can’t thank the tutors enough. Their knowledge, guidance and reassurance helped me grow into the designer I am today.
Ellie: I loved my time at the art school, it really broadened my idea of what “graphic design” can be and encouraged me to make connections with different art forms and students from different courses. Having mostly practising designers at my tutors helped give me a blueprint of what kind of career I might be able to build and I’m still in touch with lots of them – especially Graham who introduced me to Instruct 11 years ago!
Josh: My time at Manchester School of Art was truly formative. The tutors nurtured a spirit of curiosity and experimentation that still shapes how I work today. I especially love the way the school celebrates exploration across disciplines and the importance of collaborating with others to bring ideas to life.
How does it feel to work on this?
We’re incredibly proud to have worked on this year’s creative campaign. Manchester School of Art means so much to us so it’s been lovely reconnecting with the school once again. It definitely feels nostalgic too! It’s been funny revisiting that feeling of rushing around preparing for the degree show (but less nerve-wracking this time around).
