Abby’s bee design creates a buzz in the North Notts Nectar Trail!

Abby Elks, Level 3 Graphic Design student from Burton and South Derbyshire College recently had one of her designs selected to be used as part of the North Notts Nectar Trail.

During her industry placement at Making Trails, the team responsible for the Burton Swans and the forthcoming Big Burton Carousel, Abby had the opportunity to submit a design to the North Notts Nectar Trail, which is a ‘swarm’ of 30 bee sculptures across North Notts during spring and summer of 2022.

Abby’s ‘Bee Friendly’ design was selected and Abby was then tasked with bringing the design to life on a giant bee-shaped canvas. Her vibrant and colourful bee now forms part of the nectar trail, which has a focus of promoting the importance of being environmentally aware. 

The North Notts Nectar Trail aims to teach its visitors the importance of bees in a fun and engaging way. The sculptures are made from recycled, reformed plastic and each one carries a positive character trait and good environmental behaviours.

Speaking about her design, Abby commented: “I chose to include texture in the bee to make it realistic and fluffy. I also filled it with colour and monochrome to show how the two fit together.”

During her industry placement at Making Trails, Abby has had the opportunity to work alongside professional artists as she gains experience and connections for her future career. Abby said: “Being at Making Trails on my industry placement works really well for me as I'm meeting a lot of new artists and understanding how they work as a team and also how they create their own businesses from the work that they do. I have learned about the financial side of things, along with the artistic and creative side. This placement has shown me how to pitch ideas for the merchandise for events, as well as social media marketing for other events, and international days. There has been a lot of designing and working as a team and I’m really enjoying it.”

Head Trail Blazer at Making Trails, Tilley Bancroft added: “We encouraged all our work placement students to submit a design for our most recent trail and we were delighted that Abby’s design was picked as one of our 30 bee sculptures by our client. Abby had the opportunity to work alongside experienced artists in our workshop and did a wonderful job painting her bee. We were on hand in case she came across any difficulties, but she not only has amazing natural ability but also an understanding of technique, how to adapt and of the importance of timescales. We’re so very proud of her and hope she’ll submit more designs in future! Her bee is stunning, well worth a visit to the #NorthNottsNectarTrail.”