This years college-level Summer Show 2025 identity Bright Futures has been co-created with our UAL Graphic & Digital Design students, the final identity is a culmination of two projects MM25 from student Jibril Nasser and Bright from fellow student Beth Carr in collaboration with staff members from our graphics diploma.

Beth said “For this project we were given a brief to design an engaging identity for the school’s summer show, the brief allowed us to be creative with it as we only had to produce a concept and or a name. I chose to approach the project with the concept of bright. To get us started and help us gain ideas we were shown some of the designs from previous years and this helped massively. We were given time and space to gain inspiration and to research different ideas and methods we would like to experiment with. All the research and imagery I found were bright and colourful with a lot of typography and shapes used hence why I led with the concept of ‘bright’. I experimented with typography and the use of idioms with the word bright such as bright spark, the best and the brightest and bright futures, due to the event being in summer I thought of using summery colours. I used a variety of fundamentals such as typography, shapes, text and colour and began exploring ombres and gradients using these.”

Speaking of his project Jibril said “working on the MM25 project, I knew I wanted to take a modern approach and breathe summer into the design of my final identity. I was inspired a lot by things like movie posters in the sense that I thought having a blocky, thick design would be really eye catching and call attention to the identity. I worked in Illustrator and without the help of my peers and tutors giving me feedback and advice, the identity wouldn’t have turned out as appealing and aesthetic as I would’ve liked. I think that the final identity turned out great. It was definitely similar to the vision I had in mind and I believe it will attract a lot of people to our summer show. Bringing the two concepts together was definitely needed and gives the final identity a really sleek contrast that screams “summer” to me, its all about balancing the vibrant colours of the season and giving them that modern twist.”

Beth agreed, “The final designs look good. I really like the use of using both designs as the MM25 adds a layer of professionalism and the bright futures provide a more creative and colourful vibe to the designs. The overall designs really tie into the theme of summer.”

Speaking of his time at the school Jibril said, “Over the last 2 years on my course, i’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time working on projects both as an individual and in groups with my peers. I’ve always felt supported and encouraged to explore my ideas and I have had a lot of fun learning new software and just diving into the different aspects of design. My main take away from studying at this college is that following your passions is never the wrong choice. If you truly believe in and love what you do, you are always growing as a person and as a designer.”

Beth said she enjoyed the diploma, “I have gained lots of useful skills. I have found being in a room with creative people very beneficial as it is easier to share ideas and experiment as creative people. In the last two years I have taken part in many live briefs, gained valuable skills digitally and traditionally. I have taken part in many projects and produced good quality designs some that I found harder than the others, but I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and this helped me to grow as a designer.”

When asked what their advice for new students would be Jibril said “My advice for new students will always be to STAY ON TOP OF WORK. Take it from someone who already made the mistake a couple times. Playing catch up is NOT fun and falling behind can feel stressful and overwhelming. That being said, my tutors always helped me get back on track and guided me towards completing work in a way where I would be happy with it.”

Beth answered, “My main take away from studying at the Northern School of Art is to surround yourself with creative people as this really helped to strengthen your passions for the topic and to help you learn and grow as a creative person. One piece of advice I would give to students starting in September is to take every opportunity and don’t be afraid to take risks with designs and push yourself out of your comfort zone.”

This years college-level summer show opens on 12th June – 18th June

If you are a school leaver looking to study graphic or digital design at college level make sure you check out our diploma. On this course student’s work on a variety of projects, including live briefs with real clients, with the opportunity to collaborate with a wide range of industry contacts for projects, workshops, talks and studio visits. Find out more here.