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UEL student reveals the ugly face of the beauty and cosmetics industry with an award-winning campaign

Friday 14 May 2010

Make being applied

University of East London product design student Rachel Muli has recently been awarded the Design out Crime award from the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) for her innovative approach to reducing theft.

Valued at £2,500 the award is offered as part of Design Directions, the RSA’s student design awards scheme which aims to challenge professional designers-in-training to apply their skills to difficult social issues.

Rachel’s submission focused on theft of cosmetics and beauty products – often considered an easy target because these products are small, easy to conceal and difficult to protect with electronic tags. As part of her research Rachel spent a lot of time ‘staking out’ different cosmetics outlets, analysing store layout, electronic security and the role of security guards once alarms are triggered.

She also interviewed several self-confessed shoplifters to understand the motivation behind their actions. The campaign, titled ‘Shoplifting is Ugly’, questions the behaviour of shoplifters who knowingly steal but don’t believe their actions are a crime.

The award is an excellent start to Rachel’s early career and will allow her to travel to conferences, take part in workshops and purchase equipment. Rachel has big plans for the future, and ultimately wants to create unique and functional products that help people.

Rachel says: “I’m so pleased to receive recognition for my work from the RSA. I’m now hoping to gain experience through an internship or placement with established product designers and one day set up my own business.”

Rachel and her fellow students are now working towards the annual New Designers event to be held at the Business Design Centre in Islington in July. The event showcases the original work and talent of hundreds of young design graduates from across the UK and the product design students from UEL will be designing their own exhibition stand and presenting their best work for display.

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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