Imperial comes out top in sector awards for design

Imperial's design work was recognised at both the Heist Awards and the University and College Designers Association Competition last month.

At HEIST, a major awards programme for education marketing in the UK, the College was awarded a Gold prize for Best Postgraduate Prospectus. The accolade follows a major collaborative project between Imperial’s Student Recruitment and Outreach team and the Communications and Public Affairs Division to revamp the prospectus last year. Awarding the prize to Imperial, the judges described the prospectus as being “as close to a ten as it gets”.

Imperial also took away nine awards in the University and College Designers Association Competition, which recognise exceptional design work done to promote educational institutions around the world. The College was pitted against leading US educational institutions to compete for the prizes, which included:

• Award of Excellence in Print, for the children's T-shirt produced for the Alumni Reunion
• Award of Excellence in the Special Event category, for the postgraduate graduation ceremony programme
• Award of Excellence in the Special Event category, for the Imperial Festival
• Award of Excellence in the Special Event category, for the playing-card themed Alumni Reunion invitation
• Award of Excellence in the Recruitment Viewbook category, for the postgraduate prospectus
• Award of Excellence in the Recruitment Viewbook category, for the undergraduate prospectus
• Award of Excellence for development information/fundraising, for the Imperial 1851 Circle
• Award of Excellence for development information/fundraising, for the College’s direct mail fundraising appeal designed around a ‘pattern of three’ theme.
• Award of Excellence for best team, for the Communications and Public Affairs Division

The children's T-shirt produced for the Alumni Reunion won an Award of Excellence

Beth Elzer, Creative Director from Imperial’s Communications and Public Affairs Division, said: “We are delighted and honoured to be recognised by our peers in the Higher Education circle for outstanding design work and for bringing fresh approaches to the table. I am especially pleased that we won the Award of Excellence for Best Team, and know we will continue to aim high.”

Jon Ashton, from the Student Recruitment and Outreach Team, said: "We are very proud to have been awarded the top prize for our postgraduate prospectus at the HEIST awards, particularly given the high calibre of entries. Our success is a testament to the tireless efforts of our great team of designers and writers, and I am happy to see that their hard work has paid off."