Ester is Hackney's 'Bright Young Thing'

Ester is one of just seven finalists, chosen from a field of 330 young designers studying art and design courses from across Europe, and including Turkey, Cyprus, Russia, Ukraine and Israel.

To get through to this stage of the competition entrants submitted high-impact, large-scale display images for exterior walls, designed to capture attention on a wall in a prime retail location. The seven finalists will now travel all-expenses-paid to London, where they will work with teams from Mactac and Hackney Walk to develop their designs for the next phase of the competition.

Ester’s submission was inspired by her love for botanic and biophilic design, designed to evoke a spring/summer feeling through colourful abstract graphics. She told us:

“It means a lot to me to be selected in this competition because murals and any kind of wall surface design is something I am very interested in. I am really looking forward to hearing the brief for the next stage, and to learn how vinyls are produced on a large scale. It is an honour to be selected alongside the other talented designers/illustrators and I am really looking forward to meeting the judges.”

The shortlisted designers will take part in in a one-day workshop at Hackney Walk to give them an understanding of the context in which their work will be displayed. The finalists will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of using Mactac graphic materials, as well as working with their large format print partner, Onward Display, and installation partner GESS, giving them an insight into the practical aspects of graphic design through to print and final installation.

Hackney Walk’s Jack Basrawy said:

"We are re-energizing an area with unmistakable historical links to the fashion industry, and therefore we are very excited to be part of this project, supporting new and emerging designers to be part of the future of the experience at Hackney Walk.”

The winning work will be selected by the judges in May, and displayed prominently at Hackney Walk. All shortlisted finalists’ work will be displayed at the Avery Dennison and Mactac booth during FESPA 2018 (Berlin, 15-18 May 2018).