海角直播

Talented student reaches Adobe world finals after free online training

A final-year student at 海角直播 has topped over 10,000 entrants to represent the UK and Ireland at a major design competition in the USA.

The Adobe Certified Professionals National Championship attracts thousands of creative design students each year, but only 20 go on to participate in a design challenge for the chance to compete at the world championships. Talented young designer Keavey Gamwell, 22, from Middlesbrough, qualified after completing free online Adobe Photoshop training and certification facilitated by 海角直播鈥檚 Digital Enablement team. After receiving her certification and achieving an excellent exam result, Keavey was invited to the national virtual finals.

Finalists were asked to complete a five-hour design challenge based on a live brief from children鈥檚 charity Barnardos Ireland to demonstrate their skills using Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

James Burrell, who has just completed his BA (Hons) Graphic Design and Illustration degree at 海角直播, was also invited to take part in the national finals after achieving an impressive exam result.

A panel of judges from Barnados Ireland and Adobe design industry experts reviewed the final projects and selected a winner based on visual appeal, their ability to meet the client鈥檚 requirements and brand aesthetics, and their professional usage of the Adobe Creative Cloud applications.

After impressing the judges with an emotive and versatile design concept for the children鈥檚 charity, Keavey will now represent the UK and Ireland at Certiport鈥檚 Adobe Certified Professional World Championship in California, USA, from 24 to 27 July 2022.

On qualifying for the finals, Keavey said: 鈥淚 was initially incredibly shocked to learn I had won the national design challenge. I worked very hard to get the Adobe Photoshop certification itself, but this really cements the knowledge and skills that I have gained. Being able to represent my country is a fantastic opportunity.鈥�

Keavey is in the final year of studying BA (Hons) Graphic Design with Marketing in the University鈥檚 School of Arts & Creative Industries and says the opportunity to compete at this level will help her future career prospects.

She said: 鈥淗aving the chance to represent the UK and Ireland at the World Championship will be hugely helpful for my career. Adobe is industry-standard 鈥� so to even have someone from Adobe judge my work is a win in itself.

鈥淭here are so many opportunities available at 海角直播 that you just don鈥檛 get anywhere else 鈥� and it鈥檚 so important to embrace these opportunities while you鈥檙e at university. It opens doors and sets you apart from others.鈥�

海角直播 offers Adobe and Microsoft training in partnership with Prodigy Learning to enhance digital skills and improve employability. Upon successful completion of the training, participants receive certification which demonstrates their expertise and they can opt to be entered into the championships.

The training forms part of 海角直播鈥檚 award-winning Future Facing Learning initiative which seeks to digitally empower students and staff through embracing cutting-edge digital technology.

As part of the initiative, the University was the first European Higher Education institution to become an Adobe Creative Campus in recognition of its commitment to promoting digital literacy across all courses and areas of study. Keavey adds that the Future Facing Learning initiative was hugely helpful when she was deciding where to study at university.

鈥淚 chose 海角直播 to be close to home 鈥� but the Advance Scheme was a huge incentive too. As part of the scheme, I received an Apple iPad, as well as credit for books and other learning resources. It was so helpful.鈥�

Michael O鈥橫alley, Course Leader for BA (Hons) Graphic Design and Illustration in the School of Arts & Creative Industries, said: 鈥淨ualifying as a finalist in the Adobe Certified Professional World Championships is a fantastic achievement for Keavey and testament to her hard work and dedication.

鈥淪he is a talented designer, and we are thrilled she is already making her mark in the creative industry. Everyone at 海角直播 wishes Keavey the best of luck for the finals.鈥�