Text Varpu SomersaloStudent participation is central to the project AgriSCALE. AgriSCALE aims at reforming agri-entrepreneurship curricula and learning methods in Sub-Saharan Africa through piloting new PBL and digital learning methods in student field challenges. These pilots will start in the fall of 2021.
It is in the hearts of the AgriSCALE team to find other ways of involving students from the very beginning of the project period. In this sense, a logo design contest was held among students at all partner HEIs (Higher Education Institutions) in the end of 2020. The result was not only a beautiful logo for the project, but the contest was also a way to spread the word about AgriSCALE itself and to spark interest towards later opportunities to participate in exciting international challenges.
Talented students from all partner countries – Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Finland and Italy – submitted their designs, and the project board received nearly 50 submissions. Each partner HEI selected two submissions from their students for the final round. The Project Board, along with two graphic design experts from Aalto University, Finland, held a meeting for discussing the finalists and to choose the winner. Out of the excellent finalists, three logos from three different countries stood out.
The winning logo was designed by Ms Winnie Kokwon from Egerton University, Kenya. The board was especially pleased with her creative way of featuring the map of Africa as a green plant to represent growth and vitality. The winner was awarded €100, and the flourishing logo was used as inspiration when Aalto Global Impact Designer Mr Roope Kiviranta created the broader visual identity for the project.
The board also selected two runner-up logos. A vivid logo with powerful colours by Mr Francesco Tassiano from the University of Pavia, Italy, presents a wheat straw held by a hand. The shape of this element can also be interpreted as a book to symbolise education. The logo was highly credited for its use of warm colours representing the weather of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the clever combination of abstract and concrete lining to allow different interpretations.
The other runner-up was a logo designed by Ms Heidi Holopainen from Häme University of Applied Sciences, Finland. The logo is a beautiful hand-drawn illustration, featuring a barley straw holding the flags of Kenya, Zambia and Uganda. A graduation hat has been placed to symbolise the educational aspect. A scale-like triangle ties the elements together, inspired by the project’s title.
Nearly all submissions had a few elements in common: the colours were inspired by either the target countries’ flags or green nature, and agriculture and education were both somehow featured. The AgriSCALE team was very pleased with the active participation among the students, as well as how the submissions clearly indicated that the project’s themes have been well understood.