Students on our UAL Extended Diploma in Graphic & Digital Design course have been working on a live brief with Cleveland Police. Cleveland Police’s Operation Endurance team contacted our school to enquire about working with students to update their poster campaign which aims to stop anti-social motorbike and illegal e-bike use. The brief ended with a small prize giving ceremony with Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner at our Middlesbrough campus.The brief was for their ‘No-face No-Fuel’ campaign which spreads awareness about how masks, balaclavas and face coverings are often used by antisocial riders to disguise their identity, petrol stations are informed not to serve anyone with a face covering. Level 3 Graphic & Digital Design students worked on it with Lecturer Lucy Tranter and Tom Burton overseeing the project. Four students were selected to present work to the client and of those students, Niamh O’Grady’s work was selected for the campaign.
Last month officers came to our Middlesbrough campus to meet with the students about the project, they said they were “delighted to attend” and “see some of the talented graphic design students pitch their proposals for a new Operation Endurance logo, as well as posters for a “No Face, No Fuel” campaign.
Sgt Turner said, “We sent the students away with this task a few weeks ago and they really threw themselves into the challenge and created some excellent designs. Operation Endurance is one of our longest running and most important campaigns against nuisance or criminal use of vehicles. It’s time for a modernised logo and new campaigns that represent the challenges of today.” Sergeant Chris Turner, Acting Sergeant John Eeles and road safety campaign officer, Nicola Bowman had a pitching session with students and commented that “all the presentations were excellent but after much deliberation first year student Niamh was chosen as the winner.”
Officer Nicola Bowman added “that the calibre of the designs presented to us was excellent and it was actually very difficult to make a final decision as they all offered aspects of what we required. Niamh’s design however, encapsulated the ethos of the message we are trying to share. The majority of motorcyclists are riding legally and enjoying the freedom riding gives however those who are the perpetrators of anti-social behaviour are represented by the balaclava which is standard headwear for those offenders”
Speaking of working on the project Niamh mentioned that Cleveland Police allowed the students a lot of freedom in the project, when it came to presenting her work she “was kind of worried beforehand as I hadn’t really talked about my own work before and I wasn’t sure what to say or do but obviously it turned out fine.” After few tweaks to make from her feedback the poster will be ready for the campaign.
Reflecting on her creative process Naimh said she “made a few pages of concept sketches for the logo. Both of the logos I worked with were quite simple so I decided to work with composition a bit more in the posters I designed. As for the concept I kind of went on a limb and started combining assets that I thought were relevant, so the tyre tracks and bikers with helmets and balaclavas on. Arranging them around the logo and information. To tie it together visually I added a screen effect which made everything look a bit more grungy and imposing and tied it more to the nature of the poster as a warning from the police I think.”
She said that having her work chosen for the campaign is “surreal” and attributes feeling happy with the artwork to feedback from her tutors “after my lecturers’ input and help I was able to pull my work together to a standard I was actually happy with and was ultimately happy to present. It’s made me feel like I can trust in my own decisions and choices a bit more while working which will be good for me in the future I believe.”
Senior Lecturer Tom Burton commented, “We’re really proud of the work that students on the graphic & digital design course have produced in response to this brief. Niamh’s final design captured the dark subject matter perfectly and provides a really effective brand for the operation to use across their platforms. We’re looking forward to working more with Cleveland Police to help improve the community in Middlesbrough and local areas.”
Speaking of how she is enjoying her course Niamh said “I’m really enjoying my course at the minute, and I’m enjoying the level of freedom and flexibility we have with our project direction, as we aren’t entirely thrown to the wolves of course but we are able to explore our own inspiration and our own directions visually and discovering what styles i’m more comfortable working with has been both fun and helpful in my work on the diploma.”
At a small award ceremony on campus, Cleveland Police and Crime Commissioner Steve Turner came to Middlesbrough and presented Niamh with her prize. He said: “It’s important that both my office and Cleveland Police involve all sections of the community in our work. Many of the campaigns, for which Niamh designed artwork, are targeted at young people in particular. It was a no brainer that we asked a young person to help create designs for the campaign and a new, updated logo so they could relate more easily to the target audience. The artwork, which Niamh produced, is hard-hitting and gets straight to the point, clearly showing that antisocial behaviour (ASB) – including ASB bike riding – will not be tolerated in Cleveland.”
If you are interested in studying graphics or digital design at college then look no further! We offer a dynamic UAL Extended Diploma that offers students the skills, staff and the resources needed to develop their work as well as varied projects, industry partners and live opportunities to help build their experience. Find out more here.