Supporting Creativity and Protection at New Designers 2025
Published 11th July 2025
The latest instalment of New Designers 2025 brought together recent graduates, lecturers and industry professionals at the Business Design Centre. The event remains a significant part of the design calendar, offering a space for graduates to share their work and begin building their professional networks.
Among those attending was Laura, CEO of Anti Copying in Design (ACID). It was a pleasure to catch up with her and learn more about ACID’s work supporting young designers. Their presence at the show served as a reminder of the importance of understanding intellectual property (IP) from the start of a design career.
The Value of IP in Design
While the excitement of exhibiting and sharing work is a key part of events like New Designers, it's also when ideas can be most vulnerable. ACID’s message was clear: protecting your ideas is not just about legal processes but about recognising the value of your own creativity.
From logos and product shapes to animations and illustrations, students' work carries real potential. Without the right knowledge, it can be all too easy to overlook the steps that could protect that work in the future.
Free Resources
ACID collaborated with us to produce a poster for teachers to use in the classroom demystifying IP and giving tips and tricks to students for Practice magazine. This is also available as a free download via the link below.
You can also download our article in Practice magazine by Curriculum Consultant Paul Woodward with helpful information including key types of IP protection such as trademarks, patents, and copyrights, while also providing practical advice for students and teachers on protecting designs.
A Shared Purpose
Attending New Designers this year, it was encouraging to see so many students engaging with not just the creative side of design, but also the professional considerations that come with it. ACID’s work continues to support this approach, helping graduates understand that protecting their ideas is part of the design process, not something separate from it.
