Farnham: UCA Farnham announces winners of Creative Challenge Awards 2013

A digital story book app for children and a plastic bag arts festival were the joint winners of UCA’s Creative Challenge 2013. 

UCA Farnham students Rachel Hartwell, BA (Hons) graphic communication, and Alex McEwan, MA book arts, won joint first prize in UCA's annual sustainable innovation programme.

They were each presented with £1,000 and a top internship during the awards ceremony, which featured talks from inspirational guests including UCA Oscar winner Arnold Schwartzman and influential graphic designer David Tartakover.

Winner, Rachel Hartwell, who is 23 and from Petersfield, Hants, said: “It feels amazing to win this award. I really believe in this idea and want to get it off the ground so hopefully this recognition and publicity will help me find someone who wants to fund the project and help take it forward.

“I’ve been really interested in how children are using new technology as learning tools and I wanted to find a new way to help enhance this, so I created a traditional book that is complemented by a modern touch-screen app.

The Creative Challenge asks students to use their art and design skills in an enterprising way to invent a new sustainable product or service.

More than 600 students signed up to the programme in 2013 which, for the first time, involves free workshops with leading entrepreneurs and businesspeople before any ideas are submitted.

Joint winner, Alex McEwan, 35, from Liphook, said: “I’m extremely honoured to win this award, especially as there were some phenomenal ideas from the other students.

“The Creative Challenge has been a great project for me and I learned a great deal from the workshops with industry experts, which all UCA students can benefit from.”

Uwe Derksen, head of the creative challenge and assistant director of research and enterprise at UCA, said: "The Creative Challenge encourages our students to set the pace for the future.

"It's not just about ideas generation and problem solving, it's also about developing our students' business skills, teaching them how to communicate their creative concepts professionally and hopefully, giving them a head start in their careers."

The Creative Challenge is open to students from all five UCA campuses. Nearly 40 businesses and organisations offered their services for free during for this year's Creative Challenge.