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Illustration student makes a bid to win eBay commission

14/10/2019

A University of Wolverhampton student has designs on a career in illustration following a successful commission from eBay, the multinational online auction and shopping business.

Daniel Turner, 33, from Walsall, is a second year Illustration degree student, studying in the Wolverhampton School of Art.

He pitched for the £5,000 eBay commission which was to design murals for its London Headquarters based in Richmond, Surrey.  The design brief was to create joyful and diverse character and city scape designs for walls in the reception area, board room, lounge, kitchen and stairs within a tight timescale.

He said:  "Winning the eBay commission was a real milestone for me. If anyone had said to me that you would get opportunities like this at University in your first year of study, I wouldn't have believed them.  It's incredible.  It has been quite a challenge, working for a real client to real timescales and deadlines but they seem to love what I've designed and that's a real boost.

"I worked hard on looking at the brief and creating something that would resonate with eBay, looking at the sales categories on the website and looking at their customer base so I could create characters that appealed to them.  I also worked really closely with the design team, Feed, who were great to work with and who really helped me to shape my ideas.

"We're taught at the University to look at the big picture so I focused on round shapes, not edges, which are naturally more joyful to the eye."

   

After finishing his A Levels, Daniel studied the same course for a year but had to drop out to look after his mother when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  He spent four years caring for her whilst at the same time working part-time in retail and when she passed away, he found a job as an assistant in a pharmacy full-time.

"I was getting more and more disgruntled working in the pharmacy but I thought it was too late to go back to University, and it was my dad who gave me the nudge and it's the best decision I've made.  I was struggling to find the time to draw and I was feeling down.  Now I can now focus on art and I can draw full-time."

Gareth Jones, Chief Marketing Officer for eBay UK, said: "Dan is truly a talented artist and his artwork throughout eBay's head office brightens up the days of everyone who passes it. 

"He is a credit to the University of Wolverhampton and has a fantastic career ahead."

Anyone interested in studying at the Wolverhampton School of Art should register for the next Open Day on Saturday 12th October 2019.

eBay images courtesy of ©Katie Holt Photography. 

ENDS

 

For more information please contact the Corporate Communications Team.

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