From PSLE failure to design winner
ITE student's creation picked as official logo for new government initiative
When she was in Primary 6, Miss Nur Hazirah Su'Aidi failed her PSLE, obtaining a score of just 67 points.
Now 19, she is hardly a failure. She is in her final year at the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) College Central and has discovered her talent for graphic design.
The visual communication student at the ITE College Central's School of Design and Media designed a logo that was picked by the Committee on the Future Economy (CFE) as its official logo earlier this year.
She beat five other finalists.
The CFE is a new government initiative to develop economic strategies to help Singapore meet future challenges by building a sustainable and resilient economy.
Ms Angela Tan, Miss Nur Hazirah's lecturer at ITE, said the student left a deep impression on her because of her determination.
"Once, after I rejected her design, Hazirah pressed on and stayed back till 7pm after school to improve on her assignment," said Ms Tan, 40.
"She then came to show me her improved design. I was very touched."
The design that Miss Nur Hazirah submitted to the CFE went through at least six rounds of edits.
Her final version is designed to look like a staircase, something that she said encapsulates aptly the principles behind the committee.
"I was inspired by how the ascending steps of a staircase can portray our desire to improve ourselves towards a higher level of achievement," she said .
Although she had to keep going back to the drawing board to improve her design, she did not give up.
"I told myself to 'just do it'," she said.
Apart from having a supportive school environment, Miss Nur Hazirah also had plenty of encouragement from her family.
Her father, support staff Su'Aidi Adnan, 60, and her mother, housewife Nor'aini Alias, 54, constantly reminded her: "You can do it, don't ever give up."
Miss Nur Hazirah's designs have also been selected for the SG50 Yayasan Mendaki postcard and the SG50 Cashcard Holder design, a corporate project commissioned by ITE.
"My passion for drawing and graphic design started when I was young," she said.
"I used to paint, doodle and do still life shading. At Assumption Pathway School, I discovered my love for design through using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator."
In her free time, she enjoys watching YouTube videos, especially those that feature "cool advertising ideas", which inspire her to think creatively.
She also likes photography, in particular, capturing photo essays about people from different walks of life .
Yet, when asked, she said she does not consider having her design picked as her greatest achievement to date.
Instead, Miss Nur Hazirah, who hopes to pursue a diploma in visual communication at Nanyang Polytechnic, said: "If I were admitted to polytechnic, that would be my greatest achievement."
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