Edinburgh College Graphic Design student recognised at top industry awards ceremony
An Edinburgh College student has been recognised at an annual national design awards ceremony for producing outstanding work in response to a creative brief.
Twenty-four-year-old HND Visual Communication: Graphic Design student Gemma Gorton was awarded the New Blood Wood Pencil at D&AD Awards held virtually last night (Thursday 8 July).
The New Blood Wood Pencil is awarded to a shortlist of the best work submitted for each brief. Winners of a Wood Pencil display excellence in at least one of the judging criteria.
Gemma won the pencil for her response to a brief set to her by audible titled ‘The Mundane Meets the Magical’. Gemma created the campaign to promote the audio books that used vibrant colours and a typeface that made the designs stand out after surveying a group of readers and using the results from the survey to inform her campaign.
New Blood Awards are open to advertising, design, digital and marketing students, recent graduates and emerging creatives worldwide. It’s provides students with an opportunity to land a job in the creative industry by getting a head start while they’re still at university/college or gaining the exposure they need to help kick start a creative career.
Gemma said: “I’m really excited to have won a pencil for my D&AD New Blood project and had so much fun working on the Audible brief! The challenge was to design the brand identity for a fictional fantasy audiobook called The Faraway and to make sure it stood out from other fantasy/adventure audiobooks, whilst still appealing to readers. The story synopsis that we were given as part of the brief was what inspired my concept: the mundane meets the magical. I combined everyday supermarket objects with fantasy imagery to create a series of illustrations to intrigue the audience and make them want to find out more.”
Edinburgh College Art & Design curriculum manager Neil Manning said: “I’m delighted to see our Visual Communications courses at the School of Art and Design yet again producing award winning students even during such difficult times. Gemma receiving a D&AD Pencil is a significant achievement and will certainly help her gain further success in the competitive design industry. Our Graphics and User Experience courses are at the cutting edge of emerging Design trends and we wish Gemma every success for the future.”
Click here to find out more about the D&AD Awards.
You can take a look at some of Gemma’s work on her website or on her Instagram page.