Manchester Street Style: 03/06/11

The Hebe team were in Manchester last Friday for the launch of Hyper Island, even though we had a tight schedule, I still managed to get some shots of Manchester's street style... Actually we went for a tiny bit of sight seeing, a very nice meal at Papa G's in the Printworks, and started drinking at 3:30 in the afternoon... so the schedule was very tight ;)

I really like the variety of style in Manchester and next time I promise I will stop and do some interviews!

Hyper Island Manchester Launch

Last Friday we attended the first official event at Hyper Island Manchester. As regular readers of our site will already know, we have been heavily involved with the project and Hyper Island globally, so we were excited to check in and meet some of the students from the first-ever class and catch up with some of our other Manchester friends.

Arriving at the Watts Brothers building on Lever Street we, along with the Hyper Island UK team, felt a bit like proud parents watching something that we have all worked so hard on, come to fruition. The first Hyper Island facility outside of Stockholm is a massive step for the brand, but one that we all believed would be a great success. The industry obviously agreed with the likes of Google, MTV, Channel 4, Wieden + Kennedy, Saatchi & Saatchi and loads more getting involved with the project.

It was really nice to spend a bit of time with the new students. They are a real interesting bunch! In just a couple of hours we had been involved in conversations about the city of Manchester, the fashion industry, the use of the word 'viral', the re-birth of speed garage, problems with restrictions when working in government and loads more random yet facinating subject! We are sure that some amazing people and projects will come out of Hyper Island Manchester in the coming months. You can see from their video above, they are already getting in the zone!

Check a couple of our previous posts related to Hyper Island here:

Hyper Island Arrives In Manchester

Creative Spaces Are Key To Creative Culture

We will keep you posted on progress of this first class on here over the summer months. In the meantime check out some of the pictures from Friday's event below:

The first class along with Hyper Island UK Director David McCall and Programme Assistant Amir LodgeShang Ting hanging with some of the studentsLee getting excited about something geeky no doubt!David McCall and some of the students along with representatives from Google, NESTA and Code Computerlove welcome everyone to the eventThe Hyper Island way already kicking inCollecting souvenir stickers of all the students :)

Hyper Island Arrives In Manchester

We have been working with Hyper Island for more than a year now. One project we have had to keep under wraps is their launch of a new facility in the UK... in Manchester to be exact. We think the project is awesome (we would of course!) Here are some of the highlights of the press release issued today:

A golden ticket for young creative talent as Sweden’s “Digital Harvard” launches industry-led learning in UK 

Budding digital media students are today being offered the chance to take part in a cutting-edge new educational programme in the UK, backed by businesses such as Channel 4, Saatchi & Saatchi and Sony Games.

Applications open today for a British version of a tried and tested Swedish training model for people in the interactive media, communications and advertising industries. The ‘Interactive Media Design and Management’ programme, which will be run in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, is the first of its kind to be introduced by Hyper Island outside of Sweden and has already received the backing of leading brands such as MTV, McCann, Channel 4, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sony Games, Code Computerlove and Wieden + Kennedy. 

Hyper Island’s model offers a distinctive action-learning approach, with participants delivering solutions to real problems brought to them by businesses. This new programme has been designed in collaboration with leaders in the media and advertising industry from around the world, many of whom will help deliver it...

“It’s all about industry-ready people”, says Hyper Island’s David McCall, Director of the new programme, which opened for applications today. “Media and communication technologies have converged, and the industry needs talent that is unbound by disciplines, instinctively collaborative and able to thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Our first UK programme has been designed with industry, with exactly this kind of talent in mind.

Jon Kingsbury of NESTA says: “The digital media sector offers exciting growth potential for the UK if we can develop people with the right skills. NESTA is excited to be partnering with Hyper Island to understand how an industry-led approach to education might be a more effective way of giving talented young people a pathway into the digital media sector.”

There are 25 places available on the pilot for exceptionally talented young people, aged between 18 and 25 years old, who want an alternative start to their career in interactive media, communications and advertising.

Our View

We think the project has the potential to be a huge success. The students that leave Hyper Island are generally of a different mind-set and level when compared to their counter-parts from other backgrounds. Manchster and the UK in general will have some brilliant talent walking out of the northern quarter and into industry here which can only be a good thing.

There are some amazing brands involved including Amaze, BBC, Channel 4, Code Computerlove, Dare, Glue Isobar, Love, McCann Eriksson, MTV, Poke, Profero, Saatchi & Saatchi, Sony Games, Stardotstar, The Neighborhood, TBWA and Wieden + Kennedy. The project has all the right backing and input to do something special.

We will try to keep you up to date on the progress of the project in the coming months. If you want any more information about Hyper Island in Manchester click here or follow on Twitter here.