‘I’m not very good at drawing,’ says winner of festival design contest

THE winner of the Henley Youth Festival logo design competition said she “isn’t very good at drawing”.

Sophie Carter, 12, who attends Gillotts School, impressed Mayor Tom Buckley, who chose the winning design, with her interpretation of the “amazing animals” theme.

It includes a giraffe, ladybird, spider, duck, birds, a bear, a paw print and a spider web blended with the festival initials.

The design was one of four that were shortlisted following more than 150 entries before Cllr Buckley chose the winner.

Sophie, who lives in Highlands Park, said she started the design in her design technology class once the practical for the year was finished.

She said: “I was just doodling a bit, I was trying to make each of the dots on the logo be a different animal.

“I think I tried to make a turtle on one of them but that didn’t go very well. But I had a giraffe coming out of the H, so the H was like its body, there was a spider coming off one of them.

“I was trying to make the animals part of the design instead of it just being add-ons.

“It was mostly just a bit of doodling, I wasn’t trying to make a big animal, I’m not very good at drawing to be honest.

“I’m not great at the big drawings, I just like little doodles and things like that.”

Sophie said she enjoyed performing with an acting group as part of the festival last year.

She said: “It was really fun, I like how there are loads of different categories for everyone with loads of different interests.

“I remember when I was in Year 6 someone came in and we started singing a lot and that was really fun because it was all very good-natured and wholesome.” Sophie, whose twin brother Alex also attends the school, said other than doodling, she also has been enjoying rowing in her spare time.

She said she started learning to row with Henley Rowing Club at the start of the year and rows four times each week.

Sophie said: “I do rowing at the moment, which is four days a week.

“It’s fun but it’s very hard because you need to do a lot of exercise and it is very tiring but it’s really good fun.

“I’m in a single most of the time. Sometimes I’m in a double so we row up the river and turn around and row back.”

Cllr Buckley said: “I think the key thing was it was most like a logo as opposed to being a really good drawing. We saw a lot of really good drawings that maybe wouldn’t be really good to turn into a logo but this one was just perfect.”

l Next year’s festival will take place from March 7 to 15.