Student dubbed ‘Unicorn’ by PepsiCo

Student at University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD), Kira Roberts, impressed a global brand in London at the UK’s leading annual graduate design show, New Designers, in July.

Kira, who graduated last week from BA Creative Advertising at UWTSD’s Swansea College of Art, was handpicked by PepsiCo out of thousands of creatives to receive their prestigious Design & Innovation ‘Unicorn’ Award at the second week of the New Designers Graduate Showcase.

The brief that instigated her winning project asked UWTSD students to create a design that would instigate Gen Z and Millennials to come up with fresh ideas to promote social change. Kira ran with the tagline ‘let’s start with hi’ which eventually culminated in a project designed for Heineken.

Taking the question ‘What would you change about the world?’ out into her local community, Kira got lots of ideas back, and created a collection of products incorporating these ideas that sparked conversations and became a ‘toolkit to make change’.

The collection included playing cards, bottles, bottle openers, chairs, and even social media filters for Instagram and Facebook, which are all geared toward opening conversations and generating new ideas.

The award gives Kira a 3-month paid internship at PepsiCo’s London design studio, allowing her to experience working for a truly global brand with offices all across the world.

The judges said about Kira and the award: “At PepsiCo Design & Innovation, we approach each day with the fearlessness and passion of a start-up to bring excitement, refreshment and fun to people around the globe. We are looking for likeminded, wildly talented and diverse designers. We like to call them unicorns.

“Kira demonstrated great confidence, passion and enthusiasm when talking about her work. She has big ideas grounded by a strong education. A unicorn in the making.”

Kira said: “The PepsiCo team loved the level of research that led to my ideas, and how innovative the campaigns in my portfolio were. UWTSD staff continuously challenged me to question everything and always push my ideas further, which was hard but exactly what was needed to shape me into the confident designer that I am today.

“They gave me experiences I could never self-learn from an online course. It was more than just the modules, they taught me how to be a self-starter, how to survive as a creative and so much more.

“I’m now preparing to move to England to start my internship with PepsiCo in September. I’ll be spending the first month with their beverage team, a month with their snacks team and the final month with their experience team working on upcoming events. I never imagined the opportunities that going to university would unlock for me, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made.”

Kira’s Programme Director for Creative Advertising at UWTSD, Martin Bush, added: “Kira’s win is very well deserved. It’s a testament to hard work that started four years ago on our Foundation Art and Design course and culminated in a First Class honours degree in Creative Advertising with us this year.

“Her work communicates empathy alongside commercial awareness, and we’re so proud that it has been recognised by such an eminent international client as PepsiCo.”

Other students from UWTSD also exhibited at the second week of New Designers including those studying Graphic Design, Illustration and Product and Furniture Design.

Many received praise from leading brands, including Hannah Evans who received commendations from Tom Faulkner, Habitat, Sylva and London Design Fair for her Brethyn Collection of Furniture.

Vilde Skaarnaes was commended by New Territory and given the potential to exhibit her Inguz Regrow project at the NEC.

Maria Arias De Diego been given the opportunity to exhibit next year at the show as part of the New Designers Select programme for graduates commercialising their interests into a business.

About New Designers

New Designers is an annual exhibition that brings together the best graduate design talent from across the UK. The event is aimed at professionals in the design industry, as well as general consumers who are interested in seeing the latest trends in design. New Designers also welcomes hundreds of school students each year, inspiring the next generation of designers. Over two weeks, the exhibition showcases the work of over 3,000 talented graduates in a range of disciplines, including textiles, graphics, product design, and more.

Note to Editor

Photographs at New Designers by Mark Cocksedge, courtesy of New Designers.

Further Information

Ella Staden

Press and Media Officer    
Corporate Communications and PR    
Email: ella.staden@uwtsd.ac.uk     
Phone: 07384467078