A pair of Edinburgh College design students have scooped national industry awards at a ceremony held in London.

HND Graphic Design students Ida Bukantyte and Marta Winogrodzka won silver and bronze for the Breakthrough Award category at the 2019 Data and Marketing Association (DMA) Awards.

Each year university and college students, interns and non-professionals battle it out for the chance to impress some of the biggest names in marketing by working on a live creative brief, for a real client or business.

Direct Line was the client for this year’s challenge and the brief was to develop a multi-channel campaign that would build awareness and excitement to drive pet owners to purchase their pet insurance.

The students, along with the third finalists from Edinburgh University, travelled down to London to present their ideas to a panel of expert judges, before attending the awards ceremony in the evening.

Twenty-six-year-old Ida said: “The whole experience was unforgettable from pitching to the client to attending the awards ceremony. During the pitch day, I felt as prepared as I could.  The panel of judges and the client were very supportive, and gave positive and valuable feedback. It was very exciting and rewarding to be part of the DMA Breakthrough Award. Through it, we have been offered placements with MRM McCann which is a great opportunity to see how everything works in the real world.”

Twenty-eight-year-old Marta said: “The experience was absolutely fantastic – I wasn’t expecting the judges to be so open, approachable and supportive and I’m really grateful for the opportunity. Along with the two other finalists, I have been offered a placement with global direct and digital marketing agency MRM McCann, but will wait to find out more details before I make a decision about taking the offer.”

Edinburgh College Graphic Design lecturer Helena Good said: “Ida and Marta are both fantastic students and fully deserved to be recognised at the DMA Awards. They were a credit to the College, and our Graphic Design department throughout the competition, and join a long list of Edinburgh College students to be recognised, which is a testament to the depth of talent studying here. Well done to them both.”