Winning Baby Box design

The winning design for the national roll-out of Scotland’s Baby Box is a forest fairy tale scene complete with Highland cows, squirrels and the Loch Ness Monster.

It will feature on boxes to be given to every new-born from this Summer until March 2019.

Graphic Design student Leanne Young from Edinburgh Napier University will receive a prize of £1,000 and exclusive mentoring from leading Scottish designers Holly Fulton and Scott Jarvie.  

Her submission was one of more than 70 entries in the design competition run by V&A Museum of Design Dundee which was open to all university and college students across Scotland.

Minister for Childcare and Early Years Mark McDonald said:

“We want Scotland’s Baby Boxes to become a meaningful  part of the lives of parents and children so it was clear the design had to be bold, interactive and inspirational. All of the entries we received certainly delivered and I would like to congratulate and thank all those who took part.

“It was an extremely difficult task trying to pick an overall winner but the judges were in agreement that Leanne’s concept should be the first ever design for Scotland’s Baby Box.

“Not only is it incredibly interactive, allowing families to customise and decorate the box throughout the years, it also acts as a multi-purpose memory capsule. It has space to record key milestones, a family tree and even the baby’s handprints or footprints.

“Although all babies born in Scotland will receive one of these boxes I am extremely pleased that each one will be completely unique to every family.”

Leanne Young said: “I am delighted to have won the opportunity to design Scotland’s first Baby Box. I’m looking forward to seeing my ideas become reality, reaching the homes of every newborn baby born in Scotland until March 2019. I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience from concept to realisation and hope that young families will interact with the design I have created.

“It’s really exciting to be involved with the entire process and I've appreciated all the support and encouragement I have received from my mentors so far. The course at Edinburgh Napier has allowed me to develop my graphic design skills and allowed me to participate in this exciting new government initiative.” 

Philip Long, Director of V&A Dundee, said: “All of the shortlisted submissions to the design competition for Scotland’s first Baby Boxes were creative, inspiring and highly professional. It is clear that the design talent coming through Scotland’s colleges and universities is world-class.

“Leanne’s design shone through in the final judging, as her illustration is exceptional and she’s really engaged with the idea that Scotland’s Baby Boxes should inspire creativity in our nation’s young people and their families.

“Everyone at V&A Dundee is delighted with the result and we look forward to Leanne’s design arriving in homes across Scotland from this summer.”

Background

Audio clips available on request.

More than 70 entries were received. The winner shows a Scottish Kingdom featuring a wide mix of mystical and native animals such as red squirrels, highland cows and Nessie the Loch Ness Monster.

The high contrast illustration is visually stimulating for babies in their early development but the images can also be customised by each individual family.

The lid features a castle which represents the family home, this can be customised to include information like birth date, weight, times etc. It can also act as a family tree or be used to record key milestones. 

One other design, by Marwa Ebrahim from Glasgow School of Art, was also highly commended by the judges.

A list of some of the contents are available here.

The primary focus of the baby box is improving child health and tackling infant mortality - they have already been introduced and implemented in a range of countries around the world with a proven track record of encouraging better and earlier engagement among women with maternal health services. Early anecdotal evidence from our pilot programme has been very positive and is providing useful feedback ahead of the nationwide roll-out later this year.

It is part of a wider programme of measures in children’s early years that, combined with newly devolved social security powers, will tackle inequality, improve health and raise attainment. For instance, we have already committed to improving financial support at key transition points in a child’s life - in line with the views of the Poverty Adviser - with important measures such as the Best Start Grant, as well as investing in attainment with our £120 million Pupil Equity Funding.

V&A Dundee will be Scotland's first design museum, showcasing the country's rich design heritage and bringing V&A exhibitions to Scotland. The new museum opens in 2018.