Shrewsbury Colleges Group’s Marketing team ran a competition for students studying Graphic Communication A Level to create a design to promote green initiatives.
The college would then adapt these designs for use around all three campuses, and the winning student, Miles Duly, designed some incredible icons that will be utilised across the campuses to encourage staff and students to be more eco-friendly.
The key messages to be communicated through these designs included:
- Small changes can make a big difference in energy usage
- We all have a role to play in reducing energy usage
- Changing behaviour while in college can have a significant impact on energy usage ie switching lights off when leaving a room | not using the lifts if you don’t need to | keeping the windows closed | turning off heaters when a room is not in use
These messages were a guide and starting point for students for the project, but they were free to develop and create designs however they wanted to. The designs were to be used in different aspects, including posters and stickers, and digitally on the college app.
The winning student, Miles Duly, is studying A Levels in Business, Product Design, and Graphic Communication. He said of his inspiration for his design: ‘Icon accessibility, I wanted the design simplified to allow everyone to understand what it meant and to recognise its’ importance. The icon was designed to illustrate messages about saving the environment’.
Miles continued: ‘The idea came to me quickly; however, it was the symbol I struggled with. I knew I wanted everything simple and universal i.e. the stairs, lightbulb, etc. But I wanted one symbol to be used throughout, one that people would glance at and recognise what the posters/stickers were about; that’s when I thought about the leaf; it has such a variety in the design world.’
Helen Morgan, Curriculum Director of the Art subjects at the college, said: 'Miles’ design really stood out as it clearly conveyed the messages around how students and staff could be more eco-friendly. His design has a simple elegance to it, which meant that it was a really effective visual across the different topics and messages that need to be communicated.’
After finishing college, Miles hopes to travel South America for a few months. When he returns to the UK, Miles is hoping that he can get some work experience with a design firm, before heading off to Liverpool John Moores University in September 2025 to study Product Design engineering!
Good luck for the future, Miles, and have fun travelling South America!!