Celebrating OnCampus and MSO’s ‘Hong Kong High School Overseas Graphic Design’ Competition

From January until May, high school students from Hong Kong took part in an exciting new project hosted by OnCampus Loughborough and My School Offer (MSO) that invited them to utilise their creativity and use art to ‘break through their limits’, pushing the boundaries of artwork completed using only black, white, and grey.

Last month the awards ceremony took place in Hong Kong, celebrating the fantastic work submitted by the students. Representatives from OnCampus and Loughborough University were both in attendance to speak to the participants and present some of the awards. Several prizes were handed out to students who excelled across the various marking categories, with the first place award being the well-deserved opportunity to visit the UK and OnCampus, with flights and accommodation included.

In her welcome speech at the ceremony Professor Rhiannon Payne, a teacher from the School of Creative Arts at Loughborough University, described the theme of the art competition: “The ethos behind the artwork should symbolize breaking through perceived limitations towards a positive state of being.” The challenge for the students was utilising a limited colour palette of shades typically associated with negativity, and the winners were able to consider this theme and think outside the box to deliver brilliant pieces of artwork. As Rhiannon also said, “it is wonderful to see so much creativity and originality blooming here.”

Also present was Deputy Director of Student Recruitment at OnCampus, Ruby Leung, who seconded this thought:

“On behalf of OnCampus, we would like to express our appreciation to all of you who participated in this competition for your great effort. Thank you to all the schools who have encouraged their students to participate in this competition for guiding and supporting these young talents throughout the journey. We are very impressed with the level of design skills and the creativity that were shown in all the art pieces … [and] we are extremely pleased to see that students are being fully supported by their schools and teachers in developing their interest. This would very likely help make their dreams come true one day – which is one of the most amazing things we want to see in education.”

This fantastic event continued into the afternoon with several seminars taking place, including Rhiannon giving a talk on studying abroad at Loughborough and local Hong Kong high school principals advising on DSE strategy for students with exams coming up. This meant the attendees were able to not only enjoy a morning of celebration, but also benefited from an afternoon aimed at increasing their awareness of their education options.

Rhiannon and Ruby also visited two local schools over the next couple of days, providing some one-on-one portfolio guidance sessions for students. Ruby said: “The students were delighted to be able to share their works and passion with us because they seldom get a chance to do this, especially with an academic from such a prestige university in the UK who flew in all the way from the UK.”

The competition has received positive feedback and OnCampus is incredibly proud to have been part of such an uplifting event.