A TALENTED student from Neilston has been commended after securing first prize in a design competition.

Ryan Jeffrey, who is studying at the West College Scotland (WCS) campus in Paisley, was among over 30 participants involved in the Visions for the Future competition.

He was selected as the winner of the Best Original Cover Art award by Metaphrog, a graphic novelist duo best known for creating the Louis graphic novels, due to his strong and creative concept after being asked to design or reimagine a cover for a zine, graphic novel or book.

Ryan said: "I was over the moon to discover I’d won first prize for my Worker City submission, which shows a city that was built for the sole purpose of making or building things. 

"I felt I still had some work to do on it– but the judges at Metaphrog, clearly saw something in my piece."

His work was also highly praised by the college library team, who said his imaginative design reminded them of concept art seen for blockbuster sci-fi films such as Star Wars, Blade Runner and Mad Max.

A discussion on DIY art and culture with Metaphrog also took place on Zoom as part of the competition, with college students from Media, Design, Graphics and Computer Games Design encouraged to get involved.

Through an arrangement with Adobe, college library staff were also able to offer access to their graphics application Spark, as well as a bespoke tutorial on how to use it for all the students registering for the competition.

Library assistant Jamie Flett said: "We've been blown away by the standard of work. We received 31 submissions via Wakelet, which we use to catalogue specific collections of online resources.

"Students were very engaged and enthusiastic throughout the whole process - which shows in the standard of work we received."

Senior librarian Joy McLean added: "Our initial idea was to run a design competition in relation to the online event, to act as a draw for students to participate. 

"However, lecturers were so keen to get students involved that they decided to use the competition as an actual live project for their classes. 

"Everyone has been so supportive of the competition and we’ve received lots of positive feedback."

To view all the submissions for the competition, visit wke.lt/w/s/kJSRWN.