Queen’s Platinum Jubilee emblem design competition won by Leeds student

Young creatives were set the challenge of summing-up the Queen’s 70-year reign with their artistic skills and Edward Roberts’ simple logo was chosen by a judging panel of industry experts.

The 19-year-old’s winning purple and white entry features a stylised crown, incorporating the number 70, on a round background similar to a royal seal, and will publicise the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee which will be marked next June by a special, four-day, bank holiday weekend.

Celebrations will range from a live concert staged outside Buckingham Palace with some of the world’s biggest stars, to a day at the races for the royal family.

The teenager, who is studying for a degree in graphic and communication design at the University of Leeds, said: “It’s just an amazing feeling to win it, I couldn’t believe I’d won it really. I thought I had achieved something by getting to the top 100 so to even win it – I was over the moon.”

The competition was run by the Victoria & Albert (V&A) museum in conjunction with Buckingham Palace and the Lord Chamberlain, Baron Parker, the most senior official in the Queen’s royal household, contacted the student on Thursday to tell him he had won.

Edward, from Southwell, Nottinghamshire, has a passion for art and design and worked on the emblem in his spare time and made continual improvements.

The 19-year-old described his design as “elegant” and, speaking about his inspiration, added: “I was thinking of ways I could re-create the continuity of the Queen’s reign in the design and I had a eureka moment.

“I thought if I could create a continuous line that incorporates the key features of St Edward’s crown that would be a really good way of representing the continuing reign of the Queen.”

He said: “I wanted the design to also symbolise a royal seal and put it within a circle to give the impression of a royal wax seal and I think that’s come across really effectively in the design.”

The winning design was chosen by a judging panel of graphic designers, visual artists and design professionals, experts from the V&A, the Royal College of Art, the Design Museum, and a representative from the royal household, chaired by V&A director Tristram Hunt.

Paul Thompson, vice-chancellor of the Royal College of Art and a member of the judging panel, said: “This clean graphic design takes us on a simple line journey to create the crown and the number 70, beautifully capturing the continuous thread of Her Majesty The Queen’s 70-year reign.

“Drawn on a computer, the ingenious emblem works across all scales and the flow of the line gives us a sense of a human touch behind the digital design process.”

The 19-year-old winner will be invited to attend next year’s Jubilee celebrations, including the live concert.