Gray’s student nets national award for ethnic give blood campaign

A STUDENT Gray’s School of Art has won a national award to create a campaign to encourage more people from ethnic communities in Scotland to give blood.

Second-year Communication Design student Bronny Farquhar was crowned winner of the Aspiring Creative Star Award, sponsored by Union Direct, at a gala dinner in Glasgow, hosted last week by the national Marketing Society Star Awards.

This leading industry award celebrates rising stars across Scotland and offers creatives at the beginning of their journey valuable industry experience.

This year the brief was to create a campaign which encourages more people from ethnic communities in Scotland to give blood. The winning entry was offered a placement with Union Direct to work towards making this idea a real campaign.

Out of all the entries, four out of the six finalists were Gray’s second year Communication Design students at Gray’s School of Art which has been rated as first in Scotland and top five in the UK for student satisfaction in Design Studies, according to the National Student Survey 2022 (excluding colleges, small, specialist and private institutions).

The finalists from Gray’s School of Art included winner Bronny Farquhar, Mia Arkles, Fraser Deacon and Kelvin Stephan.

Bronny created a multi-platform social media campaign that puts emphasis on community and representation. She created a campaign centred around the ‘The right fit” and built on the existing Give Blood, 'people like you' campaign, creating a direct call to ethnic minorities to sign up and give blood.

The campaign focused on spreading awareness as to why more ethnically matched donors are needed and the impact this would have with those living with sickle cell disease and the importance of blood transfusions. The jigsaw metaphor she created works as the visual foundations for the campaign and acts a symbol of community.

Bronny said: “I am so grateful to have won this competition and be able to work with Union Direct to create such an important campaign that aims to save lives and create a positive impact on Scottish society.

"It is such an amazing opportunity, and I can’t wait to explore these ideas further and work with such a talented team of creatives.

“I am thankful to Gray’s for giving us the chance to work on this project as I have gained so much valuable skills and knowledge in the work that it takes to create campaigns and all the problem solving it takes to bring ideas together. My lecturers continuously encouraged me to find new ways of looking at things in order to create the best possible outcome and were very supportive throughout the whole journey.

"Overall, I am super excited about this achievement and so pleased that four Gray's school of art students had been recognised for this award. I can’t wait to work with Union direct and help make a change!”

Gray’s Communication Design lecturer, Iain Gill, said: “We're so proud of Bronny winning this award.

"It's a huge achievement considering it's a national competition. I would also like to acknowledge the other finalists too – from the six selected finalists, four came from our stage 2 studio which is a staggering achievement. Their success is testament to their hard work and reflects the creative, critical and technical skills we foster in all our students so they can succeed in the creative economy.

"Well done to all, and I hope Bronny reaps the benefits from her paid placement with one of the best creative agencies in the country."