Two Edinburgh College Graphic Design students have won one of the most coveted prizes in the design and advertising industries – a special pencil trophy from the D&AD New Blood Awards.
Jennifer Grieve and Sarah Lewis joined some of the country’s top young talent to pick up their award after impressing the D&AD judges. Their joint project was just one of 16 across the UK to win a pencil, from 2,500 entrants.
The students won for a project developed from a brief by the National Autistic Society (NAS). The brief was to create a campaign featuring a film that would challenge the stereotypes and stigma attached to autism and show the real people behind the label.
The students’ campaign featured a short video to complement the NAS campaign Too Much Information. Their video was targeted at 7-10 year olds and aimed to encourage understanding and empathy towards autism, supporting happier and more informed social interactions with peers with autism.
The judges were impressed with how engaging and interactive the video was.
The D&AD New Blood Awards recognise the next generation of creative professional stars.
Sarah said: “This was a huge surprise and such an honour. Back on our first day of our course, our tutor Helena Good gave us yellow pencils, promising one day we would own a real one from the D&AD awards. Those things are like gold dust and I never expected it would come true.”
Jennifer added: “It’s a complete but very positive shock to get this. I still can’t quite believe it’s happened. We’ve been told since our NC days that winning a pencil is an incredible opportunity for our careers.”
Graphic Design lecturer Helena Good said: “This is a worldwide design competition so it’s a superb achievement against some of the best young designers around. They really deserve this though as their work is of such a high standard that many seasoned professionals would be proud of it.
“Winning this award will give a real boost to their employment opportunities and I’m sure they both have really bright futures ahead of them.”
Jennifer and Sarah’s work can be seen at https://www.dandad.org/awards/new-blood/2017/the-national-autistic-society/3114/the-three-rs/
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