NICHOLAS Thompson missed out on the coveted Audi Design Foundation National Young Designer of the Year title last weekend but returned to his Warsash, home in a buoyant mood.
Judges of the prestigious competition staged at the Baltic Contemporary Arts Centre in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, highly commended Nicholas's "dan-buoy" design.
Indeed he was shortlisted by the judges to the last five which served up a fitting climax to the evening's proceedings - but ultimately just missed out on the top award.
Nicholas also reached the last five of the separate Virdev Award but also suffered heartache in that competition.
Eighteen next month, Nicholas, a former pupil at Peter Symonds College, Winchester, qualified for the final by winning a local heat staged at Southampton Audi.
Open to A-level Design and Technology students throughout the UK, 26 budding designers aged 17-19, had their projects judged.
Alex Lyne won the Audi Design Foundation Young Designer of the Year title.
The 18-year-old from Stowmarket, Suffolk, will receive up to four years-worth of financial support through university, paid work experience every summer holiday and a guaranteed 12-month contract at north-east-based product innovation company Virdev UK.
Additionally, the winner will spend four weeks at an Audi Design Centre studying with the German manufacturer's world-leading design team.
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