Business News

Accolades for outstanding student winners of the Brief Cases awards

Friday 08. November 2013 - Brief Cases, a scheme to bring industry and education closer together and to provide design students with an introduction to handling a commercial brief, has just announced winners for this year's competition.

The idea for these awards was the brainchild of Veronica Heaven, managing director of The Heaven Company, who was on the judging panel along with Thom Stebbings, consumer insight manager at key sponsor Virgin. They were guided by Brian Webb, managing director of design house Webb & Webb who is a former president of the Chartered Society of Designers.
“I am delighted that the scheme has attracted Virgin which is a fantastic sponsor for this design initiative and I hope other companies will come on board to support this initiative in future, “says Veronica Heaven. “It is a great way to get involved with higher education and helps to increase an individual’s employability potential. Brief Cases is a way that companies can demonstrate their Social Responsibility, creating a really effective bridge between business and education and giving something back to the community.”
The three 2013 Brief Cases were to:
• create three stories in a staff communication piece to explain the Virgin brand, taking into account the core values and its look and feel
• create a high quality, creative calendar to raise the awareness of The Heaven Company, a consultancy in communicating Corporate Responsibility and sustainability issues
• produce a visual identity to capture the spirit of the business-university collaboration that is Brief Cases
Only one Gold was awarded in the three categories because it had to be a truly outstanding entry and that was seen in the work of Amedeo Spagnolo, a student at University of the Creative Arts, Epsom. He produced two entries but it was not the quantity but the sheer quality of both that secured him the top accolade. His eye-catching, colourful work with the linking graphics generated gasps of delight and enthusiastic comments.
Chairman of the judges Brian Webb said: “This is a very clear and immediately understood solution. The strapline gives excellent clarity and it is a logo that works across many applications, online and print, including letters, envelopes, digital formats, apps etc. It’s a really well thought through solution.”
Two Silvers were awarded this year, one in the Virgin internal communication category to Steven Parry (University of the Creative Arts, Epsom) and Jenna Plumb (Norwich University of the Arts) for the calendar brief.
Thom Stebbings of Virgin said of Steven Parry’s work: “This is a lovely way to inspire ‘insatiable curiosity’. It has been well considered with a clearly articulated rationale. This solution could be applied across the channels from online to office space.”
Regarding The Heaven Company calendar produced by Jenna Plumb, Veronica Heaven commented: “A really bold solution and some good thinking is evident in this calendar design. There is a good use of copy and this student has thought carefully about extending the message of corporate sustainability communication into the production processes, inks and packaging. “
The two bronze awards were for work on the Virgin internal communication brief and went to: an entry that “engages staff, entertains and captures attention” by James Pentland and Lauren Doyle of UCA Epsom; and the other to Jonathan Walley of Norwich University of the Arts for his “excellently and painstakingly researched” submission.
There were also two highly commended accolades in this category for strong visuals work undertaken by two University of Salford students, the cartoon style of Kat Frost and the iconography theme on a ‘V’ by Sam Davies.
Veronica Heaven says: “This scheme attracted some really powerful entries and it is my hope that this bridge between industry and education will continue to be valuable in the design sector but could be extended into other disciplines in future, creating projects or modules that add value to degree level students and bring them into contact with their associated industries.”
Victoria Winteringham, senior lecturer, graphics at Norwich University of the Arts, says: “Brief Cases certainly are a great way for second year students to experience the realities of an industry brief. From the outset, the concept, design and creative input should be strong, but it is the other requirements in the brief that sets this competition apart. It often gives students their first taste of targeting a specific audience and an opportunity to understand certain print requirements and price points. Writing a succinct strategy/rationale and ultimately presenting their work to communicate a clear message to an outside party is something that all students should be aware of particularly in light of the competitive industry they will be entering in the next year or so. Those who take on Brief Cases definitely find it builds their confidence and aspirations for their final design year.”