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A collective of students described as a ‘creative soup of designers’ has won a top industry award.

Formed earlier this year, Gutter Punks consists of students from various programmes within Edinburgh Napier’s School of Arts and Creative Industries.

Created to help bring anyone who is passionate about design and creativity together to help foster a studio culture within the School, the collective has spent 2023 going from strength to strength.

Its growth was recognised recently at the Creative Edinburgh Awards where it scooped the Student Award at a ceremony held within the city’s Biscuit Factory on 17 November.

The Creative Edinburgh Awards are an annual celebration of the city’s creative community, highlighting the projects, people and places that flourish across Edinburgh.

The rise of Gutter Punks has been rapid. 

From organising a number of design talks and meet-ups to having a super successful shop run at the Edinburgh Napier Degree Show where students got to sell their designs to the public, the collective has grown to include more than 30 members from all years across the University’s Graphic Design, Product Design and Photography courses. 

And with future plans that include establishing a permanent space for the group on campus as well as a range of future events, including a Christmas exhibition on 15 December, the rise shows no sign of slowing down.

The group said: “There’s no real hierarchy in Gutter Punks. There’s no brief as such, we’re just a group of designers – a soup of designers – that make each other better. Anyone who is passionate about design and creativity can join – you just have to show up and be present.

“When we won the Creative Edinburgh Award we were quite shocked. There was 16 of us at the night itself and we sort of just stood still for a moment – it took a couple of seconds to register that we had actually won. It was great to be acknowledged though, and the party that was night was amazing.

“We’ve got lots planned for the next couple of months. We’re in the process of renovating a space which will be our room that we’ll use to host exhibitions and meet-ups in. A student-controlled space for student ideas. We’ve our Christmas exhibition at Merchiston on 15 December too which we’re all really looking forward to.”