At JD School of Design, we know design education is so much more about textbooks and classrooms—creativity, experimentation, and a willingness to explore new possibilities. On 10th September 2025, Wednesday, our third-year fashion and interior design students were lucky enough to witness exactly that at the Creative Workshop on “Mark Making for Design” by Josephine Cowell, International Academic at the University of the Arts London (UAL).
The session, which was with graduating design students, was a warm space where thoughts could get out of hand with impunity, unfettered by Josephine’s years of experience and passionately humane teaching.
As students entered the workshop, the mood inside was irretrievably changed. The tables had been set out with all manner of tools—brushes, sponges, inks, charcoal, and even some quite unorthodox materials that hinted at the surprises to come.
Josephine started by encouraging students to set aside preconceptions of what “good” design must look like. It is not about being perfect but about process—about how marks, no matter how fine or bold, can lead us toward new ways of seeing and creating..
This warm-up established the tone for an afternoon of exploration. Students were invited to begin with their own pieces of cloth, photographs, or personal objects. Then, they were invited to experiment with mark-making processes boldly—layering, scratching, blotting, and even learning to accept accidents as part of the work.
The class wasn’t to produce finished work; rather, it was to rediscover the pleasure of creating and appreciate the worth of flaws. As a Fashion Design student explained halfway through an activity, “I didn’t know how freeing it would feel to create without having to think if it’ll fit into a design brief. This feels like play, but with intention.”
Josephine led students softly, proposing changes in direction and posing intriguing questions. Might a spur of ink be the start of a study of texture? Might overlapping marks imply silhouette or interior design? By exploring these discussions, students started to see how their spontaneous marks might become sources of ideas for clothing, installation, or even print direction.
For final-year students, this workshop was especially timely. Most of them are currently defining their graduation projects, portfolios, or even career preparation in Design, Fashion, Media, and Fine Arts. Through this workshop, they were able to acquire tools to overcome creative blocks and to establish a firmer, more unique artistic voice.
About the Speaker – Josephine Cowell
What enhanced the workshop even further was the facilitator herself. Josephine Cowell combines a depth of academic background with industry expertise in her teaching. She is presently an International Academic at UAL’s London College of Communication, with a Fashion Textiles background. She graduated from London College of Fashion with a BA and from the Royal College of Art with an MA, two of the highest-rated establishments in the business.
She has worked with London College of Fashion and Central Saint Martins over the years, with a speciality in mentoring students through Fashion, Textiles, and Styling courses. She does not just have technical design skill expertise but also student development and higher education applications expertise, making her the ideal person to mentor young creatives.
Outside of academia, Josephine has worked on some inspiring projects, co-working on Knitwear and Styling with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), photographer Tim Walker, and Warner Bros. Her career demonstrates a disproportionate combination of creativity, teaching, and industry application—a balance that our students were deeply enriched by during the workshop.
Why “Mark Making” matters in design education
One of the biggest lessons of the workshop was to slow down and trust the process. Working in a high-speed design world that too often has results as the priority, mark-making is a helpful reminder that creativity starts with wondering.
Through this workshop, students were reminded that marks are not doodles or patterns but are actually the foundation of storytelling in design. From a fashion range based on a sequence of brushstrokes to an interior design scheme based on layered textures, these humble acts of exploration can drive revolutionary projects.
As one Interior Design student put it at the close of the session, “I knew that my rapid charcoal drawings could lead to furniture configurations and lighting concepts. It’s not simply drawing; it’s designing with emotion.”
At JD School of Design, such workshops are extremely significant in terms of training future designers. By inviting international perspectives like Josephine Cowell, we are trying to open students’ eyes to other ways of thinking and seeing that push them out of their comfort zones.
The “Mark Making for Design” workshop was quite beyond a design exercise in a sense—it was an invitation to students to discover their intuition, to learn to accept uncertainty, and to discover the power of marks as the seeds of innovation.
As students exited the session with dirty fingers and notebooks full of test drawings, there was a feeling of revitalisation. For others, it was more than just a workshop; it was a turning point—a moment that will still be resonating throughout their design process.
At JD School of Design, we take pride in developing such potential, where our students are fostered to be more confident, creative, and stronger while they prepare themselves to step into the world as the next creative minds.
