History inspires Priestley art student

A STUDENT delved into the past to help promote an art project that tells the story of a major Second World War battle.
Andrew Harrison, an Art Foundation student at Priestley College, was asked to design a promotional poster for ‘Stranded’ which revisits the stories of Merchant and Royal Navy seamen as well as the WRENS who served in Battle of the Atlantic operations during the Second World War.
The 19-year-old, of Doeford Close in Culcheth, studied posters from the period to help inspire his design which features a lone ship lit by the moon. It is surrounded by a white border, which was a common feature in Second World War posters.
“I wanted it to be the best it possibly could be,” said Andrew. “It was for such a worthy event that I wanted it to work for them and it was my first real client so it was also important to me in that way.
“I visited the Maritime War Museum to look at the kind of styles they used on posters from this period and used similar blocky, hard-hitting fonts on my poster.”
The result of his efforts won him praise from the organisers Blind Spot Collective and approval from the Liverpool Art Council which had to agree his design before it was posted around the city.
Andrew, a former student at St Ambrose School, has wanted to become a graphic designer since he was 12 and will be heading to Manchester Metropolitan University in September to study it in further detail.
His main goal with the poster to promote Stranded – part of international photography festival Look13 held in Liverpool – was to have immediate impact.
“You only have a matter of seconds to make sure you make someone pay attention,” he said.