A local student’s winning design can be seen all around Stirling, thanks to a recently launched bike hire scheme.

Ashleigh Beck, (20) from Alloa, is in her second year on a visual communications course at Forth Valley College’s Stirling campus.

She created a stylish and practical design for the newly launched NextBike service in Stirling. Her design is already featured on four of the company’s bikes.

The attention-grabbing design which incorporates coloured shapes that are reflective is not just used to identify the bikes – it is also ideal for road safety.

Ashleigh was delighted about having her work chosen for display. She said: “It was great to have my design selected from the 10 that were submitted from my class.

“I really feel quite proud to see it on the bikes around Stirling, my mum nearly cried when she saw the coverage of the launch of the facility in the newspaper which showed a photograph of me and my design.

“The college are very good at encouraging students to work on live projects like this as they help to build up your portfolio and they show you can work to deadlines, rather than just producing work for class. I would encourage all visual communication students to have a go at producing work for these types of projects.” Ashleigh’s lecturer, Hannah Keba, congratulated her student, saying: “I think Ashleigh has done brilliantly. Projects such as these are great opportunities and, if successful, will feature in the public domain and become a key piece of work for students’ portfolios.

“It is helpful for graduating students to have experience of working with design clients on their CVs – we encourage all of our students to be proactive in giving themselves the best possible start to entering the jobs market.” NextBike, working in partnership with Stirling Cycle Hub, decided on the winning design.

Robert Grisdale, from NextBike, added: “We were very pleased with the response from students when we challenged them to design the advert panels for our bikes in Stirling.

“We were hoping for something a little different that really captures the fun and happiness of riding a bike.

“Ashleigh’s design is extremely engaging and instantly demands attention. We’re delighted that she won and that the design is now visible across Stirling.”