Brighton Marina competition to showcase university talent

The competition, which starts today and runs for a month, aims to showcase the variety of fresh and inspiring talents among our students. The challenge is to design a vinyl wrap which represents what the city of Brighton & Hove means to them.

The winner of the competition will have their design replicated, printed and installed onto the benches which are positioned throughout the marina, including the waterfront which was listed as the most ‘Instagrammable’ snap spot in 2019. The winner will also receive a £100 voucher redeemable across any Marina venue.

Professor Tamar Jeffers McDonald, Dean of the School of Art and Media, said: “I am delighted that Brighton Marina has come to us looking for entries from the school. The competition provides such a great opportunity for our artists to use their creative imaginations in interpreting the brief, with a real chance to improve the local environment.

“Our students study everything from illustration, animation and photography to film, fashion, textiles and 3D, and our school has produced some incredibly talented artists over the years, including three Turner Prize winners! We are looking forward to seeing what the students can produce for this unique local competition.”

Sophie Chandler, Marketing Manager for Brighton Marina said, “We are looking to uncover the city’s future generation of artists emerging from the University of Brighton. We enjoy collaborating with local educational establishments, which we do on a yearly basis, and as a local business we feel we are best positioned to show our support and have that positive community involvement. We are looking forward to being able to give the students a platform to showcase their talent which ultimately will be seen by every visitor to our marina and hopefully provide opportunities for them in their chosen career."

Competition winners

All the design entries will be showcased on Brighton Marina’s digital channels and the three finalists will be chosen from a panel of judges including University of Brighton Vice-Chancellor Professor Debra Humphris and Eloise Parrack, Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design.

The winner will be decided by the public via an online vote between 13–17 April and the winning design, which will be revealed on 4 May, will be seen by the millions of visitors Brighton Marina receives each year and will remain in situ for the rest of 2023. The costs for production and installation of the bench design will be covered by Brighton Marina.