Meet the Exeter College student whose artwork has transformed an iconic city centre building

Exeter College student Iz Cammack is used to keeping their artwork in a sketchbook. Now, one of their designs is being seen by thousands of fellow students every day after it was chosen for a prominent position on an iconic College building. 

The opportunity began when Exeter College invited students to design new artwork for the windows of its Centre for Creative Industries. Iz, who studies A Level Graphic Design, Drama and Film and Video, was among the students who responded to the brief. 

Chosen from a range of exceptional submissions, Iz’s design has now been installed across 12 large windows above the building’s entrance, just off Queen Street in Exeter city centre, covering an area of around 15.75m². 

The artwork captures the different people, styles and experiences within the College community. Its colours represent the College’s values of Ambition, Collaboration and Energy, a key part of the original brief, and feature the words ‘Find who you are…’, representing the journey of an Exeter College student. 

Describing how it felt to see the finished artwork on the building, Iz said: 

“It’s really cool! When I first saw the pictures, I was freaking out a bit, but I got lots of compliments from my family and friends, which was really nice. It was like a little bit of an ego boost. 

“I’ve never seen my art that big, and it’s very public. It’s usually just my art in my sketchbook and hidden away in my bag, so it’s quite cool seeing it up there for everyone else to see.” 

Iz’s submission was one of many exceptional designs the College received from its students. A key part of the brief was to use colour to represent the College’s values of Ambition, Collaboration and Energy. Explaining how they approached the brief, Iz said: 

“I was looking at the brief and what really stood out to me was that it wanted to encapsulate the student body at Exeter College. In this (artwork) you see that everyone’s different. 

“There are all these different fashion tastes and art styles, and I just thought that was really interesting, and I wanted to represent that. There’s punk, goth, all these fashion styles I tried to represent.” 

Iz developed a few initial ideas before creating the final design using skills and software introduced through their course. Iz said:  

“My Graphic Design course has given me more confidence to do big things like this. I wouldn’t have known how to do thumbnails; that’s something I learned in the past year. I used Photoshop and Illustrator, which I would have had no idea how to use if I hadn’t taken Graphic Design, so it really helped me make this.” 

For Iz, seeing the finished design on a College building also shows students that they don’t have to wait until university or employment to begin creating work for a public audience. 

“Success is closer than you think. You think you have to go to university and then you can start doing what you want to do. But you can actually do it earlier, and you can do whatever you want if you set your mind to it. 

“I think it’s really important to give these opportunities to students. If the College wants to inspire students to do what they want in the future, showing them what they could do is inspiring, and it shows that the College is on their side.” 

Exeter College’s A Level Graphic Design learners achieved a 100% pass rate in the 2025/26 academic year, with more than 87% achieving grades A* to B. Kate Vincent-Smith, Iz’s Graphic Design teacher, said: 

“It is always wonderful to see students’ work in the public sphere, and I am so proud of Iz’s work. Seeing this work up on the Centre for Creative Industries windows is an excellent reminder of the talent we get to work with and nurture as tutors. 

“It’s important that the College provides these opportunities for students. It allows them to see the results of their labour out in the real world. Hopefully, the message in this work will resonate with other aspiring creatives, especially as it is all a journey of discovery.” 

Discover A Level Graphic Design and other creative courses at an upcoming Exeter College Open Event. Register here: https://exe-coll.ac.uk/open-events/