One evening while scrolling through Instagram, a UCAS ideas post appeared on my feed. It was one I had seen before and scrolled past many times. This time, however, something caught my attention. I saw the words “Design a Bus.”
Over the previous month, I had started thinking about creating work in public spaces; work that people are almost forced to engage with as it becomes part of their everyday lives. The opportunity immediately excited me.
That same evening, I struggled to sleep. My mind was racing with different ways my artwork could interact with the bus and how I could create a design that captured the theme of celebrating five years of journeys, connections and shared experiences across the UK.
I first saw the competition on the 20th of April, with submissions due on the 25th at 12pm. With only a few days to complete the project, my focus shifted almost entirely towards creating a competition entry.
By the 23rd of April, after making the final adjustments and refinements to my design, I was ready to submit. It was then that I realised the competition required a vector file.
It wasn't that I hadn't noticed this requirement previously; I had simply assumed that because both Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are Adobe platforms, transferring a file between the two would be straightforward. Unfortunately, the design I had spent three days creating in Photoshop had not retained any vector data during the process.
A frustrating mistake, but I suppose it is one of those lessons you only learn by making it.
With the deadline approaching, I recreated the entire design in Adobe Illustrator. Although having a finished design made the process easier in some respects, it was still incredibly time-consuming and, at times, frustrating. Ultimately, I only had myself to blame.
The description submitted alongside my final design was as follows:
"Since being at university, a repeated motif in my artwork has been an octopus. This became a natural starting point for the character featured in this bus design. The octopus allows me to explore complex ideas around human connection and shared experience indirectly, creating a space for conversation through the work.
As a student, I often use FlixBus, whether travelling to visit my grandparents in Bristol or returning home to Manchester. I wanted this design to document a journey by including landmarks equally distributed across the UK, from Smeaton’s Tower to Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Edinburgh Castle, representing the range of destinations accessible through FlixBus.
The slogan 'More Life in Real Life' is used in my design to celebrate the genuine, everyday connections made through travel that FlixBus provides a space for, from conversations with strangers to reconnecting with loved ones. It reflects the idea that journeys are not just about reaching a destination, but celebrating the shared experiences along the way.
Finally, being originally from London, I have incorporated London Bridge to reflect both physical and metaphorical journeys and connectivity."
Although I ultimately did not win the competition, making it into the final three was an achievement that I am incredibly proud of.
The experience has also encouraged me to think more seriously about public transport as a platform for displaying artwork. In many ways, a bus functions as a moving billboard, carrying creative work through towns, cities and communities while reaching audiences who may never step inside a gallery space.
While I had previously used Photoshop extensively, I had never worked with Adobe Illustrator in any significant way. Recreating my design from scratch forced me to learn how vector files work and develop a new set of skills.
More than anything, the process taught me to use Adobe Illustrator when asked to do so...
While the competition may be over, the ideas it sparked about creating artwork for public spaces are only just beginning. If you've got a bus, train, plane, tram, ferry, spaceship, or any other moving object that needs a makeover, send me a email or DM.