Bex 28, Edinburgh
"Only now is it starting to sink in that I will be seeing my designed tin when I pop into the shops!”
Bex is an illustrator from Edinburgh who was introduced to The Prince’s Trust back in 2018. At that time Bex was between jobs, taking part in a weeks-long Business workshop at The Trust, however, solely focused on becoming an illustrator.
Bex kept her creativity to herself at first but later felt encouraged to share her talents as she started to receive commissioning projects, giving her the confidence to pursue her illustrating career. She was told that illustrating would simply only be a hobby and not a real job. Despite this, Bex’s determination pushed through that limitation with the help of The Prince’s Trust and is now one of this year’s NESCAFÉ AZERA By Design winners.
Bex said, “When I decided to push past the imposed ideas that creativity was ‘just a hobby’ or ‘not a proper job’, I just decided to go all in. Apply for everything, send the cringy pitches, and push harder. Submitting a design for NESCAFÉ AZERA By Design Competition to this was part of that.
“One of my now closest friends, Shannon whom I met at The Prince’s Trust sent me the advert for this competition and I immediately had an idea for the design. I didn’t think much beyond that. Only now is it starting to sink in that I will be seeing my designed tin when I pop into the shops!
“Becoming one of the winners has been a nice surprise. I never expected to be chosen, so I was a bit stunned for a few days after receiving that confirmation. I’ve gone from being told off in classes for doodling, to having those doodles selected and now seen by anyone venturing down the coffee aisles.”
Bex focused her design on positive communication portraying the importance of talking with those around us to influence a positive change.
“My design is all about how folk come together for a chat. Coffee so often plays a part in that. Communication with the right people can open minds, inspire, impact, and might even change your life. All of which can lead to positive change.
“The Prince’s Trust is where I was first told that my dreams aren’t delusional. I received my first dose of encouragement from everyone and amazing people along the way. Pursuing your hobbies can turn into something if you power through, be yourself, and put some faith in your dreams.”
Lauren Mann 28, Lincolnshire
“I hope that my designed Nescafé Azera tin inspires people to become the silver lining to someone else’s story.”
Inspired by her own experiences of looking after elderly relatives who had dementia, Lauren’s multi award-winning business, Farrow Friends, enables the elderly to live independently within their home and local community, helping to minimize isolation. Launched in 2017, the services offered by Farrow Friends include shopping, support with travel to appointments, cleaning, and befriending.
Lauren said: “I initially contacted The Prince’s Trust when I was 18 and remembered they were non-judgemental, kind, and willing to help. I came back a few years later, after I’d had my son and felt ready to start my business.
The Trust gave me so much confidence. I was poorly before I came to The Trust due to an eating disorder and found approaching an organisation scary at first, but they made me feel welcome and took me under their wing.
The Enterprise programme taught me the foundations of starting a business and the course was relaxed and easy to understand. I also got paired with a mentor, who was very knowledgeable.
I have a particular passion for social care and the older generation, Farrow Friends Ltd is a home help, support, and befriending company for the elderly which I started with help from The Prince’s Trust. We have recently started providing a free service called ‘the care chair’ where a colleague and I sit in a cafe and speak to people over coffee, to help with the loneliness issue in our area. “
This motivated Lauren’s decision to take part in The Prince’s Trust Nescafé Azera Design Competition. Despite not having background in design, Lauren felt that taking part in this competition would allow her develop skills in other areas of Lauren’s business.
“I’ve never taken part in anything like this before, but I’d like to connect with the young and trending target audience as a good proportion of them including myself are carers and we live off coffee. We can encourage young people to strengthen their connections with their elderly family, friends, or neighbours with just that.
It’s great for society and for the mental health of everyone. The elderly have so many amazing stories to tell and so much wisdom to offer young people.
When someone picks up my Nescafé Azera tin, I want them to feel a sense of gratitude knowing they have the power and ability within them to reach out to someone feeling isolated and arrange to have a coffee date.”
As a Young Ambassador for The Prince’s Trust, Lauren continues to share her story with others, as she encourages community and togetherness with Farrow Friends, encouraged by the support received from The Prince’s Trust.
“I felt completely lost before I found The Prince’s Trust, but now I’ve found my purpose in life – raising my son and running my own business. They put me on the right track, helped me to believe in myself and my business and gave me a helpful nudge in the right direction.
I hope that my designed Nescafé Azera tin inspires people to become the silver lining to someone else’s story.”
Lauren 27, London
“I look forward to seeing my design on the shelves, this will be the proudest moment of my graphic design career.”
Lauren first joined The Prince’s Trust with ambitions to pursue a career in Digital Marketing. Lauren gained a degree in Visual Communication whilst freelancing and building her small business lploveprint, alongside working part-time as a sales assistant, all whilst being a full-time mum.
Committed to transforming her life, Lauren noticed a shift in creative technology with the rise of AI and creative tools. This pushed Lauren to learn a new skill, so she joined The Prince’s Trust, taking part in the Get Into Digital Marketing Programme.
This programme allowed Lauren to gain the knowledge to build strategies behind the creative across various of media channels.
“I came across The Prince’s Trust and joined the Get Into Digital Marketing course. This programme taught me all the skills needed for employment in the digital marketing space. I started
to build the confidence that I didn’t have prior, and meet amazing people such as my mentors,
tutors, and peers along the way.
Within 3 weeks of completing this programme, I secured a full-time job at an Award-Winning Marketing Agency. I’ve worked as a sales assistant in retail for 10 years. It was finally time to leave.”
After completing the Get Into Digital Marketing Programme at The Prince’s Trust and now in full-time employment, Lauren felt inspired to take part in the Nescafe Azera By Design Competition. Though with doubts, Lauren was able to face her fears, becoming one of this year’s Nescafe Azera By Design Competition Winners.
“The biggest challenge for me during this competition process was my self-doubt. I was excited
about the possible outcome, though I struggled to believe that I could achieve it. However, I enjoyed it. I enjoyed creating visual brainstorms and sketching different ideas.
Creating my design allowed me to explore all the different experiences and emotions that arise
when coming together over a cup of coffee. Coffee has been a journey into transitioning into
adulthood, gaining knowledge, building human connections and finding inspiration.
My design emphasises creating spaces that facilitate meaningful conversations and celebrate the
global coffee culture, highlighting how coffee connects people from different backgrounds.
This competition has not only allowed me to explore my growth, but to understand the importance of reflections to be able to grow even more. This design represents community and growth.
I look forward to seeing my design on the shelves, this will be the proudest moment of my graphic design career.”
Lisa McQuater 25, Glasgow
“My design reflects bringing people together through yoga which is a form of love and a way to change yourself for the better from the inside out.”
Lisa is Portrait Photographer from Glasgow who joined The Prince’s Trust’s Enterprise Programme to launch Walks, Wags and Tails, a dog walking business that she currently owns with her sister.
Wanting to challenge herself and grow her business, Lisa heard about the NESCAFE AZERA By Design Competition and decided to take part with hopes of being able to pick up creative skills to better market her business.
“I decided to take part in the competition because I had a good feeling about it and thought why not try something that I wouldn’t usually do. I wanted to creatively challenge myself to grow Walks, Wags and Tails to find new ways to gain clients.”
Despite having a business all about dogs, Lisa made the focus point of her designed tin on yoga as a form of love bring people from all backgrounds together.
“My design reflects bringing people together through yoga which is a form of love and a way to change yourself for the better from the inside out. Yoga is a universally inclusive practice that exercises this motive in each sitting. Bringing people together is very important to me as you never know when you need a helping hand.”
Winning this competition has influenced Lisa to use design and creativity to further grow her target audience, something that would not have been possible, had she not taken the chance on herself.
“Since winning the competition, I have gone onto designing adverts for Walks, Wags & Tails. It’s inspired me to run the social media pages for the business which has helped attract a lot more clients. This couldn’t have been done had I not taken the chance with my designed tin.
My time at the Prince’s Trust has been extremely positive with the Enterprise Programme pushing my business to flourish. It’s helped to boost my confidence and my capabilities not only within myself but now in the things that I create.”
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NESCAFÉ AZERA By Design is a campaign which brings so many of us together, and is one that will continue to inspire generations to come! Take a look at our AZERA By Design archive over the years, and discover how to campaign has grown over the years.
