AN aspiring professional graphic artist, Amberley Amarnauth, was ecstatic to learn that she has designed the winning logo for the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the competition held last November. Amarnauth, 16, who recently completed secondary education at the St George’s Secondary, said she had simply entered the competition as a platform to showcase what she could do as a graphic designer, and never thought her entry would have gotten her the $75,000 cash prize.
She received the call on Wednesday informing her that her entry was the lucky one.
“It was a really great feeling for me but I was very surprised because I saw the other logos and they were good as well,” she expressed.
Amarnauth lives in Herstelling on the East Bank Demerara with her parents and siblings. She developed a love for graphic designing from observing her parents who run a graphic designing business, Elite Marketing.
“I’ve been doing graphic designing for a while and I thought it was a great opportunity for people to be able to see what I can do. I love creating and drawing. My father does it and by seeing what he does I picked up an eye for it,” she shared.
The entry that earned Amarnauth her win highlights aspects such as reading and children, but, aside from including aspects of education, the logo pays homage to several of Guyana national symbols, particularly the Coat of Arms and the national flag, the Golden Arrowhead.
“I did a lot of research to come up with it. I looked at the old logo and tried to think of things that represent education and I use all of that to put it together. The colours are from the Golden Arrowhead, the flag, to show that it represents all Guyanese and I included the Coat of Arms and our map. The icons represent the children of Guyana,” she shared.
Amaranth’s logo was one of 38 that had entered the MoE Logo Competition which ran from November 1 – 30 last year.
The logo is part of a wider effort by the ministry to enhance its brand and image. MoE Public Relations Officer, Murtland Haley, shared that narrowing the entries down to a final pick was not an entirely easy task.
“Upon closing the competition, a team reviewed the entries and shortlisted five entries. After that stage a team of senior officers within the ministry reviewed the shortlisted entries and voted. Ms. Amarnauth’s entry received the highest number of votes and was therefore the winner,” he said
He added: “It was a tough decision to make because we received a lot of entries that were extremely creative and applicable to the work of the ministry. The Ministry of Education thanks those persons who participated and we extend warmest congratulations to Ms. Amarnauth for not only winning our competition but being a part of the history of the Ministry of Education.”
Amarnauth said she has not decided just yet what she plans to do with her prize money, but hopes to invest it in advancing the development of her pursuit to become a graphic designer.
