BCU Healthcare Medal - Obverse
The medals were designed to a request of Professor Philip Plowden, Vice Chancellor of Birmingham City University. He wanted a medal which would be awarded to the students from Health, Education and Life Sciences who graduated early in 2019 to go and work in the National Health Service and help alleviate the issues caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Vice Chancellor wanted a medal which could be worn on a uniform.
These are silver-plated struck bronze medals - struck at Thomas Fattorini in Birmingham - and were designed to be accessible. It was important that the medal didn't have any ambiguity and was understandable by a wide range of people who would be viewing it: graduates, families, patients, colleagues in the NHS. I wanted the medal to be contemporary but not abstract and to reflect the idea that the people who were working in the NHS were working selflessly, putting themselves at risk to help others, perhaps even risking their lives to save lives. The key was a quote from the Humanist Geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan reflecting on his view of selfless acts in society, represented on the obverse, along with a heart, larger than the virus molecule. A hole leads the eye through to the reverse where the text changes to playfully reference the unique British surrealism of The Beatles “All You Need Is Love”, a song which in a naive and innocent way echoes Fuan’s philosophy. On this side love overpowers the virus molecule.
BCU Healthcare Medal - Obverse
The medals were designed to a request of Professor Philip Plowden, Vice Chancellor of Birmingham City University. He wanted a medal which would be awarded to the students from Health, Education and Life Sciences who graduated early in 2019 to go and work in the National Health Service and help alleviate the issues caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic. The Vice Chancellor wanted a medal which could be worn on a uniform.
These are silver-plated struck bronze medals - struck at Thomas Fattorini in Birmingham - and were designed to be accessible. It was important that the medal didn't have any ambiguity and was understandable by a wide range of people who would be viewing it: graduates, families, patients, colleagues in the NHS. I wanted the medal to be contemporary but not abstract and to reflect the idea that the people who were working in the NHS were working selflessly, putting themselves at risk to help others, perhaps even risking their lives to save lives. The key was a quote from the Humanist Geographer, Yi-Fu Tuan reflecting on his view of selfless acts in society, represented on the obverse, along with a heart, larger than the virus molecule. A hole leads the eye through to the reverse where the text changes to playfully reference the unique British surrealism of The Beatles “All You Need Is Love”, a song which in a naive and innocent way echoes Fuan’s philosophy. On this side love overpowers the virus molecule.