Andy Cummings, Senior Graphic Designer

Exceeding expectations and going beyond the call of duty

Andy Cummings is the Senior Graphic Designer in the Students’ Union.

I believe that Andy should be nominated for this award due to his creative talents that are truly exceptional. His work throughout the Students’ Union never ceases to amaze not only co-workers, but the student population.

Andy juggles a huge portfolio covering everything from designing website content, advertisements, posters, corporate communications and identity. He always manages this high work load incredibly well, ensuring that all areas are covered to the highest standards. Through his work in all of these areas, he demonstrates an amazingly creative flair, up-to-date knowledge of industry software and a professional approach to meeting all deadlines.

Andy has also become the champion of new technology at the Students’ Union. He devotes much of his free time to staying up to date with digital trends and youth culture, which has benefited the Students’ Union many times. From new apps, to up and coming channels on social media, Andy is full of inspiration and ideas.

A great example of his enthusiasm is the work he did to pioneer the use of Snap Chat within the organisation. Previously, it was decided that Snap Chat wasn’t a suitable tool. When the app launched the My Story function, Andy researched and presented his findings to the Marketing and Communications Department. This resulted in a CardiffStudents Snap Chat account that gained thousands of followers in the first few months. The My Story function has been used to great effect to promote larger events and to get involved in national campaigns like Generation Vote.

Andy also excels at building relationships with students. He is constantly championing the Students’ Union to our members, and his friendly, approachable style allows him to gain feedback from students wherever he goes. He will regularly return from buying his morning coffee with a tale of chatting to students and discovering that they are dealing with a certain issue, or that they needed more information about a campaign. He is genuinely interested in what our members have to say and he feeds this in to the work he produces.

Inspiring others and exemplifying the values of the Students' Union

Andy’s speciality is concept work and he excels at developing broad and overarching campaigns for the Students’ Union.

A great example of this is the concept work he has produced year on year for our Welsh Varsity tournament. The Welsh Varsity takes place annually between Cardiff and Swansea Universities and is the largest student sporting event in Wales. For the last two years, Andy has been responsible for developing a joint campaign for both universities, across a range of platforms.

Sam Parsons, VP Sport and AU President was especially impressed with Andy’s work for the 2016 campaign. “I believe that Andy should be nominated for this award due to his creative talents that are truly exceptional. His work throughout the Union never ceases to amaze not only co-workers, but the student population. His concept work delivered to the Varsity Operations group for the 2016 edition of The Welsh Varsity was, in my opinion, some of his best work, and the final design has certainly exceeded all expectations. This is just one example of the fine work that Andy does, alongside being forever a friendly face in the office and always up for a challenge and being a sound board for ideas.” The concept that Andy developed for this campaign featured the student captains of Welsh Varsity sports. Not only did he produce the design work, he attended the photo session and worked with the students to put them at ease, achieving the best photos and having some fun along the way. As a result of Andy’s hard work, this unique and creative branding has successfully created a strong connection with our students.

Andy has also had the challenging task of re-branding established services in the organisation. His approach to this made the transition as smooth as possible and the designs he produced have been very popular.

What is really impressive about Andy’s approach to his work is his unwavering dedication to finding out what students want. He is constantly reviewing what he does and evolving to keep up with the fast paced and extremely diverse student population.

The effect of Andy's work

Andy is responsible for the overall look and style of everything Cardiff University Students’ Union does.

Evidence of his work is everywhere, from the graphics on the walls of our building, to the font used on the lanyards our staff wear around their necks. It is hard to quantify the value that this has to the organisation. He has made us easily recognisable to our students and established a trusted and quality brand. He constantly strives for the highest quality in everything he does and he encourages staff around him to do the same.

He offers great advice to our student societies and clubs on developing publicity. During our annual student elections, Andy delivers presentations to candidates, advising them on how to put together eye-catching and memorable campaigns to help them win votes.

Andy is great with people. He approaches situations sensitively and is good at gaining buy-in from all parties when a project requires collaboration from a diverse range of people. Andy recently compiled the branding for Medics Varsity (a sporting event between Bristol and Cardiff medics) where he had the challenge of merging two very traditional club crests to create a brand that allocated identity to both Bristol and Cardiff medics. Andy did a fantastic job and produced a brand that captured all stakeholder objectives whilst giving the event a clear identity.

Andy shows exceptional customer service skills, he really listens to the needs of those he is working with before making decisions. He always seeks to develop creative ideas and concepts whilst adopting the appropriate style to the meet objectives of the design brief.

Andy always has a smile on his face and throws himself into staff activities with a real enthusiasm that is infectious to people around him. He demonstrates high levels of energy and commitment and I cannot think of anyone who is more deserving of this award.