Talented teen wins national design competition
Kevin Mansell-Abell judges regional final for design challenge.
A 17-year-old girl from Goytre is celebrating success in a design
competition, which saw her winning entry pitted against those from
school pupils across the whole of Wales.
Naomi Collins, a year 12 pupil at St Albans RC High School, submitted an entry to the Trust for Sick Children in Wales Design Challenge.
Following regional heats, she was chosen to present her work to a panel of judges at the final, which took place at St Fagan’s National History Museum.
Naomi’s design, based around a heart to symbolise the caring nature
of the Trust, delighted judges – including media personality Frances
Donovan; former athlete turned broadcaster Nigel Walker; Tesco corporate
affairs manager for Wales Sophie Akokhia and film producer Mark John,
as well as representatives from the Trust.
Naomi said: “I was so shocked to be declared the winner as the
standard really was so high and the presentation was quite a tough thing
to do.
“I’m currently studying for A-levels in Design Technology, Art and
Media so I’m really interested in all aspects of design, particularly
graphics.
“This competition was a great opportunity for me to work to a real
client brief and I’ve genuinely got an interest in the way charities
choose to brand themselves, so it was the perfect scenario really.
“My design symbolises the caring nature of the Trust and the arches
of the heart represent the parents on one side and Trust on the other
embracing and caring for a sick child.
“Obviously I’m delighted and looking forward to this experience holding me in good stead for the future.”
The Trust for Sick Children in Wales, which provides accommodation
for the families of sick children going through difficult treatment,
teamed up with Careers Wales to set the challenge to secondary school pupils across Wales.
The challenge was to come up with a ‘rebranding package’ that would
help to update the charity’s image with a brand new logo to represent
the Trust and be used on all marketing material.
Speaking about the success of the competition, Huw Thomas, Chairman of the Trust for Sick Children in Wales, said:
“We were absolutely delighted with the number of entries received and
are grateful for the support of Careers Wales and our sponsor Mandarin
Stone in helping make this whole exercise such a success.
“As a charity we have limited funds when it comes to things such as
marketing our brand, but all those involved felt it was time we looked
to update the image of the Trust so that people – not just those
benefiting from our facilities – are made more aware of the work we do
to keep families together during difficult times.
“The high standard of entries made for a difficult decision but Naomi
came out on top as having the best overall understanding of what we
require. We will now take Naomi’s ideas back to the full board of
Trustees, where we will make the final decisions about how best suit the
charity’s needs.
“It’s an exciting time in the history of the charity and, once again,
I’d like to thank all those involved for making it possible and of
course, congratulate Naomi on her achievement.”
As well as being declared the overall winner, Naomi received a laptop
and design software package for her school, to the value of £1000.
She will also pick up valuable experience, spending a day working with the St Fagan’s Historical Buildings Design Team.
Article taken from the ITV Wales Blog. More information and the original article can be found here: http://itvwalesblog.com/2011/04/22/talented-teen-wins-national-design-competition/