A 23-year-old graduate has been unveiled as the winning designer of Stagecoach’s official face masks after the operator held a national competition to help boost CVs of budding designers.
With the Covid-19 crisis leading to many work placements and internships being cancelled, Stagecoach stepped in to offer student and graduate level designers the chance to add to their portfolios as they begin their search for full-time work. Matthew Cheung, originally from Hong Kong, was selected as the winner after he put his own spin on the Stagecoach logo to make a concept which accounts for the bends and creases in masks.
The swirly circular design features all key Stagecoach colours but with a cartoon-like effect which makes it almost unrecognisable from the brand logo itself. The mask will now be given away to students across the UK, free of charge. The fabric face masks, which are reusable, will help to lessen the impact on the local environment as an over reliance on disposables across the UK, which are often not recycled properly, has led to increased pollution and concern that many will eventually end up in the sea.
Matthew said about his design: “I’m always looking for ways to boost my own CV and the chance to be named as the official designer of Stagecoach’s face masks was an opportunity I couldn’t ignore. I wanted to build a print that worked if the mask was either opened out or not, whilst still making it ownable to Stagecoach. So, I took their own colours and created a swirly design which was bright, colourful and different to anything else out there. I didn’t actually think I would ever win but it’s great to be able to add this to my portfolio.”
Catherine Acton-Brazier, Regional Director North for Stagecoach, said: “Although Covid-19 has caused previously unimaginable disruption for people up and down the UK, students have been hit particularly hard. They have suffered with the loss of work placement programmes over the summer, whilst lectures and lessons have often been held via webinar or cancelled altogether.
“As a result, we wanted to do our bit at Stagecoach to give tomorrow’s graphic designers a boost for their own CV, and it was from a very competitive entrants list that Matthew was selected as the winner. From all of the team here we’d like to say a big well done to him and thanks also to every applicant who clearly put in a lot of effort to enter this competition.”
Students can apply for a mask, free of charge, from www.stagecoachbus.com/students
