Press release
Art Students Picture UK and International Success
Students from across the UK are being urged to enter a career boosting national art competition which could see their work featured in a UK and international advertising campaign for Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.
‘The Art of Nurture’ competition closes on 31 January and challenges the UK’s up and coming artistic talent to produce a visual representation of the strengths of Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance’s asset based lending solutions such as flexibility or originality.
The brief is to create images for use in Commercial Finance’s ‘Art of the Advisor’ marketing campaign, which will target potential clients in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Ireland and the US.
Students will go head to head with budding artists from other colleges and universities in regional and national heats. Their work will be scrutinised by a judging panel of key players from the arts and business communities.
Judges have yet to be announced but last year included artist and painter PJ Crook, and Farah Nayeri, arts correspondent for Bloomberg News. Finalists will have the chance to meet and network with high profile figures from the art world at the event to announce the winner early next year.
As well as seeing their art used in a high profile commercial environment, the overall winner will receive £5,000 for themselves and £5,000 for their college or university.
The individual will also have the opportunity to further boost their career prospects by undertaking a unique three-week paid placement with a top London-based creative agency.
Last year’s inaugural competition was a runaway success and the second annual contest was officially launched at a glittering event on the London Eye.
The marketing campaign which featured work by last year’s winner Zara Picken, an illustration student from the University of the West of England, helped to generate a 40 per cent uplift in new client numbers for Commercial Finance.
The strategy also played a pivotal role in the funder being ranked number one in the asset based lending industry for awareness and service quality amongst advisors.
The contest has been developed by Commercial Finance in partnership with leading London-based creative agency cchm:ping and Arts & Business, the national charity dedicated to encouraging new and sustainable arts and business relationships.
Ian Byers, marketing director of Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance, said: “More and more students are undertaking professional qualifications in order to boost their career prospects in the commercial artistic arena.
“We developed ‘The Art of Nurture’ to give these talented individuals the opportunity to boost their CVs by developing art be used by a major financial organisation in a high profile marketing campaign.
“Commercial Finance’s success is based on the distinctive approach we take to asset based lending and the visual representation of this in our marketing campaigns have brought real results for us in the past.
“The inaugural ’The Art of Nurture’ campaign was a triumph and we’re looking forward to seeing the quality of this year’s entries.”
Zara Picken, winner of the first ‘Art of Nurture’ competition, added: “Obviously the cash prize was great but the placement opportunity was in my eyes the best thing about winning. Seeing the development process behind the commercial projects I hope to undertake in my career was incredibly inspiring.
“I’d really recommend entering the competition to anyone studying for an artistic qualification and wanting to set themselves apart – ‘The Art of Nurture’ is a fantastic experience and has made a massive difference to my portfolio and CV.”
Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance is part of the Lloyds TSB Group plc.
