Brighton student's design success

Design for Digital Media students were asked to come up with a design that captured the essence of a new edition of Guiding Lights, run by Lighthouse, an arts and culture agency based in Brighton.

The winning design was by second-year student Eddie Stuart whose logo “stood out right from the start”.

Sian Habell-Aili, Lighthouse Development Producer, said: “Guiding Lights has historically been a difficult project to brand. It’s about people, connections and career progression – so some quite abstract concepts.

“With the launch of a new iteration of the scheme at the start of 2018, we wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the new programme’s identity. We were also keen to work with local talent, because whilst the scheme is cross-national, Lighthouse is Brighton based, and it’s important to us that we don’t always look to London when there is a wealth of talent so close.

“We needed something that captured the intangible elements of the programme – people, relationships, networks – as well of the prestige of the mentors who have taken part over the years, including Danny Boyle, Kenneth Branagh, Sam Mendes, Clio Barnard, Barbara Broccoli and many others.”

So why choose Eddie’s design? Sian said: “It was extremely clever in its simplicity and incorporated everything we had asked for and more. He really went the extra mile in his proposal – showing us how the design could adapt to different scenarios, alongside other images, as a standalone piece, and even as an animated logo.

The Guiding Light winning Logo

Eddie Stuart

“The final design is both minimalist and bold, and beautifully captures the prestige of the scheme without being ostentatious.”

Eddie said: “When developing the identity, it was important that we created a design which allowed mentees’ work to speak for itself. The idea of putting tutees’ work first aims to emphasise the creativity and community surrounding the brand, while complimenting the core of Guiding Lights activities.

“With such an amazing line up of mentors under their name, the design needed to have a certain level of confidence and professionalism about it. The new identity is largely inspired by film and cinematic aesthetics such as cast light and stark contrast, and with a number of programme’s branching from Guiding Lights, it was key to ensure maximum consistency between all instances of the logo.

“The team at Lighthouse were a pleasure to work with and I look forward to seeing the Guiding Lights programme grow with their new identity.”

Eddie, 22 and based in Hastings, is now working for a local design consultancy.

About his course at Brighton, he said: “It encourages students to explore technical abilities and push exciting concepts. As a result, we can step into a professional environment with confidence, making use of the skills and knowledge acquired.”