Helen’s artistic fireworks adorn the Athena

University of Teesside Design student Helen Hurry has a special link with the Athena, one of the buildings she works in. Her artwork is now displayed on the side of the new £10m building.

Helen, 21, from Fulwood, Preston, is in the final year of a BA (Hons) Graphic Design. Her 8m by 6m mural was selected after a competition for the University’s Design students. Their brief was to produce artwork for the Athena Building around the theme of celebration. 

Helen said: ‘I was very excited to hear my work had been selected, to have something I have produced and see it at such a large scale is very rewarding.  The brief stated that the artwork should be inspiring, exciting and celebratory. I focused on the celebration side of things and fireworks were an immediate response. I layered photographs of fireworks to give it more depth, colour and make the image more abstract.

‘To have something I have created on a wall for everyone to see is very gratifying. Knowing it’s there is very exciting and I hope it will inspire others.  I also hope that this experience will get me a little more noticed in the world of graphic design. When I finish this summer I’d like to work in a top graphic design agency, hopefully abroad. Canada, New Zealand and Australia seem interesting at the moment.’

Barbara Usherwood, Head of Design at the University said: ‘We selected Helen’s design due to its strong visual qualities.  It fuses digital technology with traditional design skills, which is ideal for this new building.’

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