Design students win industry awards after collaborating with leading brands

Five University of Gloucestershire students have won design awards in recognition of their creativity and imagination after collaborating with the UK’s largest independent agency network and a major retail brand.

Award-winning global brand T&Pm challenged second-year BA (Hons) Graphic Design students from the University with a live design brief to rebrand Argos in a fresh and modern way, aimed at capturing the attention and engagement of millions of potential customers.

The students were tasked with creating a contemporary brand identity and high-impact advertising campaign that positioned Argos as a leading retailer in the digital age, while maintaining its legacy of convenience and affordability.

T&Pm and Argos mentored and supported the students throughout the challenging process, which culminated in students pitching their concepts and designs to professionals from both organisations.

Following an appraisal of the designs, T&Pm and Argos awarded the Gold Design Excellence Award and a three-month placement at T&Pm to Harri Bater;Evie Baker won the Silver Design Excellence Award; Freya Bayes won the Bronze Design Excellence Award; Helen Robinson and Fin Parker won Highly Commended Design Excellence Awards.

Harri Bater said: “I had an amazing time re-branding Argos for the modern age as part of a live-brief set by T&Pm. It was a brilliant opportunity to test my skills, re-imagining such a well-known brand that definitely pushed me to be a more adaptable, confident designer.”

Evie Baker said: “I really enjoyed the creative challenge of presenting this brief to T&Pm as it pushed me to think strategically and communicate my ideas with impact. The experience has boosted my confidence in presenting to industry professionals and helped sharpen my branding skills.”

Freya Bayes said: “Repositioning and rebranding Argos has been such a fun project to work on. It’s been great to expand my skills in a concept inspired by Argos’ famous mascots, Connie and Trevor, and make Argos a brand that humanises and playfully disrupts the more monochrome e-commerce market.

“I’ve truly enjoyed bringing the ideas to life and seeing everything come together. Thank you to the Graphic Design team at university and T&Pm for making this project so rewarding to work on.”

Helen Robinson said: “The opportunity to get feedback and advice from industry professionals is such a great experience and has really boosted my confidence as a designer.

“Working to a deadline and making that final pitch to T&Pm was nerve-wracking but a great development opportunity, and the fact that the University put in so much time and effort to make this happen is great.”