Design for success at Uxbridge College

[liz Bellchambers]

Design students pitched against each other to create a logo and branded email for a mortgage company – and win an Apple iPad in the process.

The 14 Uxbridge College students created designs for Graf Mortgage Corporation, and pitched in front of a panel of three ‘dragons’ including Steven Cochran, who is Director of Graf Mortgage and the college’s vice-chair of Governors. The others were Lucy McCann, Head of Marketing at Uxbridge College, and Les Barnes, owner of West Street Marketing Ltd.

The winning designs were by Kenny Ogunneye age 17 from Hayes and are now due to be worked up for use in a marketing campaign in the Spring.

Steven said: “All the work presented by the students was very, very good and it was a tight competition. I think the thing that made Kenny stand out was that he had a very good understanding of what we do and what we wanted and had picked up on brief very well - I wanted the designs to look slick and professional and they did.”

Lorraine Collins, Executive Director of Enterprise and Development at Uxbridge College, said: “Uxbridge College students have so much talent between them that there is no doubt businesses could make use of it. Whether they shine as designers, entrepreneurs, engineers or show flair in another area, the Young Dragons Society is there to nurture their best ideas and link them with organisations which can benefit.”

The competition marked the launch of Uxbridge College’s Young Dragons Society and  was held in Hayes Business Studios, a facility for start-up business, at the college’s Hayes Community Campus.

The launch follows a successful project taken on by design student during her time on a BTEC course at the college. Alanna Kos, 20, who is now doing a degree in graphic information design, recently completed a total rebrand for Frazine Johnson Solicitors, based in Denham.