Pub worker wins £1,000 in Beavertown Brewery competition for creatives

A talented pub worker has won £1,000 in a creative marketing competition for a brewery.

Beavertown Brewery, recognisable from its colourful beer can designs, has named Holly Westall, 28 from New Cross as one of 11 ‘Creatives Untapped’ winners.

Ms Westall is a member of front-of-house at The Rose Pub and Kitchen in New Cross Road, New Cross. As well as a cash prize she will receive marketing support for her artwork and a feature at the brewery’s London showcase this summer.

She said: “I’m so happy to win this prize, working in hospitality alongside being creative is hard work.

“However I now have a strong sense of my own style both as an illustrator and designer. This win will allow me to push my work into a wider audience.”

Ms Westall has been working in the hospitality industry for the past 10 years and her work is mainly illustration based, although she does dabble in graphic design. 

Ms Westall said: “The meaning behind this work is to bring a sense of joy and playfulness to the every day, and to make the viewer happy.

“I try to use bright colours with playful shapes and lines trying to make a simple task something the viewer will want to look at again and again.”

Taking inspiration from 1980s and 1990s rave flyers, as well as food packaging, Ms Westall experiments with textures to give her work more depth and colour. Her work incorporates playful elements and never tries to take itself too seriously. 

Nick Dwyer, creative director of Beavertown Brewery, said: “Holly’s work has a really strong aesthetic, and, to me at least, drips with 70s style, a great colour palette and trippy subject matter.”

Beavertown Creatives Untapped was created in collaboration with the creative publication, It’s Nice That, to celebrate the creatives working in pubs and bars across the UK.

The competition aims to recognise the hospitality industry as a hub for creatives, with the likes of artists, musicians and actors turning to it as a side hustle.

Matt Aslaigh, the editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That said: “Every week at It’s Nice That, we talk to so many creatives who work in bars, cafes and restaurants in order to support their creative practice. 

“We’ve teamed up with Beavertown on this Creatives Untapped campaign because we really want to champion those artists and designers who split their time between working in the hospitality sector and honing their craft. 

“So, we wanted to say a massive congratulations to the winners of this campaign, but at the same time to celebrate every single individual who waits tables and pulls pints whilst also finding the inspiration and motivation to be creative.”

All winners have been contacted and their work will be showcased at a London venue in August.

Pictured top: Holly Westall (Picture: Beavertown Brewery, Holly Westall)