AN ALLOA artist has been announced as the designer of the 2019 shortlist awards for a prestigious Scottish music prize.

Emma McDowall was commissioned to design the trophy for the ten shortlisted artists nominated for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award.

The 25-year-old created the ten original hand-cast concrete awards in Edinburgh, with each award designed uniquely in its colour, texture and design.

Emma said: "I was delighted to have been chosen to design and manufacture this year's SAY Award.

"This commission really gave me the freedom to be expressive, sculptural and experimental without any of the commercial pressures.

"The brief was to take inspiration from Edinburgh and specifically the Salisbury Crags – dramatic cliffs located in the middle of the city centre."

She added: "I took colour inspiration from Scottish landscape too: Deep grey-blues and forest greens dropping into a natural sand tone, creating interesting details where they blend together.

"I also incorporated a UV element on the textured face of the object to add something unexpected and honour the exciting nature of the awards and the nominated artists."

Each year a designer is commissioned by Edinburgh design curators Local Heroes to create bespoke prizes for the shortlisted artists.

Stacey Hunter, design curator and producer at Local Heroes, said: "Emma McDowall is a designer who can expertly bring together tactile materials, distinctive colour palettes and the element of surprise - an aspect that is often so key to successful design projects.

"Her UV reactive concrete totems will look just as dynamic in daylight as they do in the dark and will be treasured objects for this year's Shortlisted artists."

The winner of this year's SAY Award will be announced at a ceremony in Edinburgh's Assembly Rooms on September 6.

Launched by The Scottish Music Industry Association (SMIA), The SAY Award gives out a prize of £20,000 to the winning album and prizes of £1,000 to the nine runners-up.

The award-winning artist will be selected on the night by a panel of judges made up of ten experts from across the creative industries.