Gray’s student wins award to encourage ethnic communities to give blood

Second-year Communication Design student, Bronny Farquhar from Falkirk, was crowned winner of the Aspiring Creative Star Award, sponsored by Union Direct, at a gala dinner in Glasgow, hosted last week at the Marketing Society Scotland 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 second year Communication Design students at Gray’s School of Art which has been rated as first in Scotland and top 5 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.

Gray’s winner, Bronny Farquhar, 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 winning campaign focused on spreading awareness as to why we need more ethnically matched donors 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. All sources of media within the campaign follow a simple structure of attracting the target audience, a clear guide to why we need you, and links on where to sign up and find out more information.

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 6 selected finalists, 4 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."

Bronny will now go on a placement with Union Direct to work towards making her idea a real campaign. All finalists have won a year's subscription with Scotland's Marketing Society.  

Main image shows winner of the Marketing Society Award, Bronny Farqhuar from Gray's, Des Clarke (left) and Simon Ferguson (right), Deputy Creative Director at Union Direct. Gallery image shows Bronny Farqhuar (centre) with Gray's finalists, Mia Arkles, Fraser Deacon. Other images show winning 'The right fit' campaign.