Rasel Ahmed and Efrem Yamamoto Photo: Catalina May

A Hackney Community College student won a local design contest and will have his work printed on specially designed T-shirts.

Three east London institutions – Dalston Open Studios, Hackney Community College and All Tropical – got together and organised the design competition to showcase the artwork of local up-and-coming artists.

HCC students designed T-shirts based on their impressions of Dalston, Shoreditch and Hackney.  Their work was featured on the All Tropical website for seven days, where people could vote for their favorites.

All Tropical is a company that runs weekly design competitions in which the winners are chosen based on the feedback they receive on the website as well as on Facebook and Twitter. Winners have their designs printed on T-shirts and receive a cash prize.

Efrem Yamamoto, the founder of All Tropical, said: “We wanted to do something with a local college and give young people the chance to show their work. I think is important for them to start feeling confident with their own work. We are young entrepreneurs and this is part of the philosophy of the company.”

Last Wednesday, the top ten designs from HCC were displayed at the Print House Gallery in Dalston, and the winner, 18-year-old Rasel Ahmed, was announced.  He received £125 and saw his design printed on T-shirts, which are on sale now.

“I’m shocked, I didn’t expect to win. I want to work in T-shirt designs, so this is a start. I live around the area and the local bars and Friday night were my inspirations,” Ahmed said.