Lucas Ewan’s live brief for Greater Manchester Combined Authority

The creative juices are flowing for Creative Media student Lucas Ewan, who is currently working on an animation video for the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

Lucas, who is studying for his UAL Extended Diploma in Creative Media Production Technology – Motion Design and Animation course delivered in partnership with Flow Creative, is working to a live brief in order to clearly explain the GMCA’s strategy surrounding Science Technology Engineering and Maths (STEM). The video will be debuted at a STEM event for the GMCA stakeholders, being held at the Museum of Science and Industry on the 28th of November.

Lucas has autism and is mostly nonverbal, so stepping outside his comfort zone to take on the project is a huge achievement. With industry input from our employer partners Flow Creative, Lucas has had all the skills and support he needed to bring his ideas to life.

When he originally began his mentoring with Ideas Foundation last year, Lucas, his mentor and tutors at The Manchester College developed strategies to help him communicate during meetings and his work placement. Some of these strategies were used for his client meeting with Nicola at the GMCA, to make sure he could access the project requirements.

Nicola said, “The work so far has completely surpassed our expectations. We can see that Lucas has really taken on the brief and given careful considered thought to the ideas we want to convey. 

“The creativity and ability to visualise key messages from the narrative is truly impressive – what a wonderful skill to have." 

The communications team could not believe that a student of this age was being able to work to a brief like this one!

Through lots of hard work and dedication, not just on his work placements and in classes but also through personal development, Lucas has been able to achieve incredible feats within the space of a year; proving what it means to #BeAmazingTMC.  

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