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Graphic Design students at the ³ÉÈËBÕ¾ have worked with a regional railway partnership to revamp its network map.

The second year students devised various redesigns for Heart of England’s Community Rail Partnership network map as part of a live working brief.

Phoebe Timmins, who is in the second year of a Graphic Design degree, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed completing the brief. It was a new and exciting experience and I really enjoyed working on a live brief with a real client. This was a new aspect of design for myself, and I was able to see how it is regularly used commercially. I have learnt new skills and ideas and this will help me become a more universal designer after graduation next year.”

The Partnership brings together rail industry partners, local authorities, businesses and communities to help maximise the benefits of the rail network. It covers 36 stations across three train lines operating between Birmingham, Coventry, Nuneaton, Leamington Spa, Warwick, and Stratford-Upon-Avon. Partners and funders include several Midlands local councils and train operators Avanti West Coast, Chiltern Railways, CrossCountry Trains and West Midlands Railways.

Students had to come up with a more visually attractive product that evolved and expanded the Partnership’s original more utilitarian map of the region’s network, which was available in leaflets at stations. Updates included representing some places of interest and amenities at various station stops via new illustrations, diagrams and supporting information (such as walking distances between stations and key historical sites).

The Partnership will now assess what elements from the students’ designs they wish to adopt or merge into a final network map revision that will then go out for public use, both available to download online and printed for use at stations within the network.

Julia Singleton-Tasker, Heart of England CRP Officer, said: “It's been a pleasure to work with the students. Their enthusiasm for the project and their receptiveness to feedback on their ideas has meant that we now have multiple high quality line maps for the Heart of England CRP that we are looking to add to our website. One of the pillars of Community Rail is to provide a voice for the community, and this project has been the perfect example of how we can engage with other organisations to showcase how the railways are seen by different people.'

Senior Lecturer in Graphic Design, Andy Stevenson, said: “This was a lovely 'live' concept artwork project that fits with our 'Design for Social Good' course initiative with which we aim to support charitable or community organisations utilising our students' design skills. Information graphics are involved within a growing range of commercial projects in our industry, and our aim is to equip students with a wide cross section of skills and experiences on the Graphic Design course to try and best mirror those that are in demand commercially. Additionally, we feel it's really important to give students the opportunity to get involved with real clients and genuine design projects, and, had this one not been addressed by ourselves, on this occasion it would ordinarily have been tackled by a commercial studio."