Jessica, from Cricklewood, was the top scoring student among six groups of competitors when she represented the College of North West London at the Creative Campus FE College Challenge in Ealing.
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The Challenge held at Thames Valley University’s West London campus asked a range of students from different colleges and disciplines, including art & design and travel & tourism, to come up with innovative ideas around the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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CNWL was awarded first place for its unique pictograms incorporating the Olympic rings. They were designed by Jessica, a Level 3 student in the first year of her BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design – who just happened to be turning 17 on that day (April 28).
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Said the former Copland School, Wembley, pupil, who went out to dinner with friends that night: “I researched pictograms by different designers. I very much enjoyed this project and I’m very pleased with the final results. My family were very happy.
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“I love my course because you have freedom to develop your own ideas and see your potential. I’ve learned such a lot already, and I hope this will help me become a designer in TV or fashion.”
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Of the seven pictograms she submitted, Jessica’s favourite is wheelchair basketball – partly because it celebrates the disabled, but also because she used the Olympic rings as wheels and duplicated them to create a movement effect.
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The judging panel, including Executive Producer of the TV show The Apprentice Sue Davidson, were looking for innovative ideas that could be explored through a variety of creative outlets.
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“The Creative Campus Initiative is a great way of engaging with young adults and bringing together the often disparate fields of sport and creative arts,” says Sue.
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“The work presented was of a very high standard, and I was extremely impressed with the contributors’ attitude towards this particular Olympic challenge and the creative thought that they had put into it.”
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The Creative Campus Initiative is a dynamic programme of high quality cultural events and activities involving a consortium of 13 Higher Education institutions in the South East of England.
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The 13 universities are: Buckinghamshire New University, Oxford Brookes University, University of Portsmouth, Southampton University, Southampton Solent University, University for the Creative Arts, Winchester University, University of Brighton, University of Sussex, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Kent, Royal Holloway University of London and Thames Valley University (TVU).
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The Initiative was launched in response to and leading up to the London Olympics 2012, reflecting the distinctive strength of the arts and creative practice in South East higher education.
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As one of its first steps last November, the constituent members launched this Further Education Challenge, inviting all FE colleges and sixth form colleges in the area to participate.
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Portuguese-born Jessica was presented with £50 worth of Amazon vouchers and CNWL School of the Arts was awarded £500 towards equipment. Her work will now go on public display in a Creative Campus exhibition at TVU in St Mary’s Road, Ealing.
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Tutor Alice Liddell said: "Jessica began creating the Olympic pictograms as part of her course work. They were so simple and yet so brilliant, we knew she had a good chance of an award, but to win the gold is an outstanding achievement. We are all delighted.”
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PICTURE SHOWS:
Jessica da Silva with two of her pictograms
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