Designing Custom Centenary Celebration Flags for The University of Reading: From Concept to Finals

Custom Illustrations for a Centenary Celebration Project

Back in April, I was contacted by Beautiful Creatures Theatre (101 outdoor arts), who organise lots of outdoor theatre events in the UK.  They were planning a parade to celebrate the centenary of the University of Reading.  The parade was one of many centenary events and projects that were being funded to celebrate sustainability, education, creativity, and community engagement.

Developing a Visual Story Through Bespoke Flag Design

The brief was to create 5 flags inspired by the 5 uni strategies.  I was also tasked with using the centenary colours and using the University of Reading crest red colour. They also wanted to incorporate the 100 logo, which was designed by the university graphic design team, to reference the centenary.

During the initial design process, I kept these key requirements in mind when I started sketching out ideas. Each flag need to represent the 5 different university strategies including - A Love of Learning, Creating Knowledge, Caring For The Environment, Celebrating Diversity and the Students Union.

When I created the designs, I had a shield shape in mind and chose to design each flag within a half shield with a cross through the middle and the words for each strategy down the side. This kept all the flags consistent and the designs worked well on their own and together.

I used icons to represent the 5 different themes and it was really important me that I referenced the university campus by illustrating leaves and berries from the different trees that can be found there.

The Research and Illustration Process Behind Heritage Artwork

I started the design process by sketching lots of different icons in Procreate, which I associated with each of the 5 themes, from books and lightbulbs to represent a love of learning, to test tubes, brains and pie charts to represent knowledge . I then selected 3-4 icons per flag and started adding them into the half shield flag shape, along with simple leaf designs. I also took photos of the leaves on different trees on the university campus including beech trees, cherry trees and hawthorne.

I sent initial sketches of each flag to my client, and they gave feedback on the icons and details they liked, and other details they wanted to change. I did updated leaf and flower sketches so that each flag had details from different trees found on campus.

My first draft of the university flag designs

Once the initial sketches were approved, I then created colour mock ups using the 5 centenary colours, yellow, orange, red, green and purple. As each colour was quite dark, I created tonal variations of each of them, to give me the opportunity to create depth and contrast in each design.

My final colour mock up for the flag designs.

When my client was happy with the final illustration and colour sketches, I then imported them into Affinity Designer on my Ipad, and created vectorized versions of the black and white illustrations.

Finally, I exported the vectorized designs and imported them into Adobe Photoshop to add colour and format the final designs, ready for printing.

It was really exciting to be asked to illustrate the 5 centenary flags for the parade. It has been 100 years since The University of Reading was granted its royal charter and opened by King George V in 1926. As this is such a significant milestone for the university, they are celebrating with a year long schedule of events for the area, students and staff. These events include - workshops, exhibitions, community fundraising, centenary tours, individual fundraising events and more, a full list of the events can be found here.

Live Event Illustration vs. Custom Illustration: What's the Difference?

Having worked with Beautiful Creatures Theatre previously, I was happy to be asked to create these illustrated flags as it was something really different to my usual commissions.

As a live event illustrator, I'm used to capturing moments as they happen and working quickly to translate the energy and atmosphere of an event into artwork in real time. The University of Reading centenary flag project was an exciting change because it allowed me to slow down, dive deeper into the story and history behind the celebration, and create illustrations that would become a lasting part of the event itself! It was such a thrill to see my illustrations on the 2 metre high flags at the parade!

While live illustration is all about spontaneity and responding to what's unfolding in the moment, designing custom flags involved a more considered creative process, from research and concept development to refining the artwork for large-scale display. It was a great opportunity to apply my illustration skills in a different way while still helping to bring an event to life through visual storytelling.

Why Custom Illustration Makes Celebrations More Memorable

Custom illustrations can help make an event more memorable because they create a visual identity that is unique to that specific occasion. In this case, it was the unique identity of the University of Reading. Unlike generic graphics or stock imagery, bespoke artwork can reflect the event's history, values, people, and story, helping guests feel a stronger connection to the celebration.

Hi, my name is Helen Ridley and I’m a Live Illustrator and art educator based in Reading, UK. If you’re looking for custom illustrations for your event including live illustration at your exclusive shop opening, unique product launch or luxurious weedding, please get in touch and I’d love to discuss how we can work together. 

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