Welsh illustration students work with dog welfare charity on new campaign

Amelia Jones

Illustration students at a Welsh university have worked with a leading dog welfare charity to create series of designs for their latest campaign.

University of South Wales students are working with Hope Rescue centre on a heartwarming campaign.

The centre was founded in 2005, and saves the lives of strays, abandoned and unwanted dogs across six local authorities in South Wales, giving them a second chance at their dedicated facilities in Rhondda Cynon Taff before preparing them for a new home.

The charity also campaigns for improvements to animal welfare legislation and enforcement, as well as providing support and advice to the public on responsible dog ownership.

The students were tasked with developing creative campaigns aimed at raising awareness of Hope Rescue among 18–30-year-olds.

Their ideas ranged from publications to interactive posters, highlighting important ways to help the charity such as fostering, adoption, donations and volunteering.

After a competitive selection process, 12 students were invited to pitch their concepts directly to Louise Swindell, Individual Giving Manager, and Laura Corillon, Digital Engagement Officer, from Hope Rescue.

Corillon said: “We thoroughly enjoyed seeing the work that the USW students came up with. Their pitches showcased a wide variety of innovative approaches and professional presentation skills.

“We wish them every success in their future creative endeavours, and look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship with USW.”

Dan Davies, 21, from Cardiff, was one of the students who took part in the project. He said: “The inspiration behind my designs came from my passion for children’s illustration, which centres around the use of bright colours and bold shapes to capture the viewer’s eye.

“I took inspiration from graphic illustration, whilst also being conscious of the target age range of 18–30-year-olds.

“I decided that flyers would be the most effective way of reaching as many people as possible, using bright colours and fun typography so that they stood out, and could be stuck on a fridge or pin board as a fun illustration to share with friends and family.

“I made sure to include key information about how people could support the charity.

“This project has helped boost my confidence in pitching face-to-face to a client, as well as ensuring that my designs are clear, concise, and aligned with the professional brief.

“It also pushed me beyond my comfort zone, challenging me to adapt my illustration style to suit specific requirements; in this case, developing a graphic style to create public-facing designs that appeal to a wide range of people.”

Tee Koike, 22, from Somerset, also took part. They said: “So many people are unaware of the variety of ways they can help charities like Hope Rescue, so I wanted to highlight the work that they do.

“To do this, and not overshadow the promotion of volunteering, I wanted to depict cartoon dogs carrying out and getting involved with volunteering roles!

“Some of my visual inspirations include the Peanuts comics, the Pete the Cat books, and illustrators such as Linzie Hunter.

“This project has helped me prepare for the industry as it has allowed me to experience the pitching process, and work from client feedback to improve my designs, as well as consider beforehand any elements of design and production that the client would require or be interested in seeing.

“I feel like I now have much more of a grip on client briefing and pitching.”

Keira Barr, 20, from Brynmawr, also enjoyed taking on the project. She said: “I wanted my illustrations to be multipurpose and for the visual language to be fun and purposeful.

“With this project, I wanted to capture each dog’s individuality and accurately and purposefully illustrate their personalities

“I specifically chose to develop the initial concepts of postcards because I wanted my designs to reach a larger audience, and have more impact, as I felt that postcards can be used for their original purpose but also be used as a stand-alone poster which would be used for years to come and not just disposed of, creating a longer-term impact.

“This experience has helped me to develop my visual style, experimenting with fun designs and applying them to a professional brief, as well as expanding my portfolio with work that I’m really proud of.”

Matt Morgan, Senior Lecturer in Illustration at USW, added: “This project exemplifies our commitment to combining practical, industry-focused learning with meaningful social impact.

“Not only has it allowed the students to apply their creative skills to a real-world challenge, it gave them valuable experience in pitching to an external client – a key skill in the creative industries.

“We are very grateful to Hope Rescue for being so generous with their time and showing such enthusiasm for this project.”

You can find out more about Hope Rescue Centre here.