Ballymena woman is crowned 2021 ACA UK & Ireland Champion

A young Ballymena woman has been announced as the winner of the prestigious ACA UK & Ireland Award.
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Emma Rodgers, a Belfast Met HND Graphic Design student, made it through to be one of the top 20 finalists from thousands of entrants from across the UK & IE in Adobe Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator.

Finalists demonstrated their proficiency using industry-leading Adobe Creative Cloud software to design a poster in just a few hours for children’s charity Barnardos Ireland. Emma’s prizes will include a plaque, a Microsoft Surface Go laptop and Surface headphones.

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Emma, from Ballymena will graduate from Belfast Met this autumn and was overjoyed by the win. She said, ”I am so thrilled to have won this award, it was just unbelievable, that someone like me from a small town could achieve this. I never imagined that I could have won an award like this. My Graphic Design course has really helped me to broaden my skillset and I was particularly inspired by my lecturer Conor McClure’s approach to Art, and he was always there to support me and give good advice. Belfast Met facilitated my entry exam to this competition using Photoshop which I passed with really high marks, so I went through the final. This has been an amazing opportunity for me and my future career, and I’m looking forward to taking part in the international competition in November.”

Belfast Met Graphic Design student Emma Rodgers has been crowned 2021 ACA UK & Ireland Champion from thousands of entrants across the UK and IE.Belfast Met Graphic Design student Emma Rodgers has been crowned 2021 ACA UK & Ireland Champion from thousands of entrants across the UK and IE.
Belfast Met Graphic Design student Emma Rodgers has been crowned 2021 ACA UK & Ireland Champion from thousands of entrants across the UK and IE.

Conor McClure, Lecturer in Graphic Design with Digital Multimedia, said: “Emma has been a fantastic student who has shown a clear flair for illustration and digital art that has featured in her design work throughout the course. This award is well deserved and a clear reflection of the hard work she has put into the development of her skills in using software, as well as her ability to work under extreme pressure and critical thinking in dealing with client briefs. These are all vital skills that will assist her and she has a very bright future ahead as a designer. We all wish Emma the best of luck in the International Finals. We are incredibly proud of the work that all our students were able to produce under very difficult circumstances in the past year, and every achievement is testament to their commitment and passion for Design.”

Andrew Flood, Chief Executive Officer at Prodigy Learning, said: “Congratulations to Emma Rodgers on an incredible achievement.”

Having just completed her HND Graphic Design at the Belfast Met, Emma plans to continue studying at university and keep developing her art and her portfolio.

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