Serina Augustin beat hundreds of others from around the world to net the top prize

A talented student has won an international competition to design a playing card for peace – set up by a survivor of the 7/7 terrorist attacks.

Serina Augustin, 18, of Kilburn Lane, Queen’s Park, who had her image of a winged angel sketched onto a backdrop of red hearts, said she was ‘so proud’ to have beaten hundreds of entrants from around the world to win the ‘Playing for Peace’ prize.

The graphic design student at the College of North West London, said: “I am so surprised to have won this competition, but am so proud that out of all those entrants they chose my design.”

The competition was run by Making a Difference (MAD) for Peace, a charity set up by 7/7 survivor Gill Hicks, MBE, to promote individual responsibility in preventing conflict and building empathetic communities.

Students were invited to design the reverse of a playing card, considering the historical background for each card and how each suit has its own story to gain inspiration from.

Ms Hicks, a fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts who lost both her legs in the 2005 London bombings, said: “I was very impressed with Serina’s design. The emotion and execution really struck a chord with me and was just the kind of originality we were looking for.”

Michelle Ogundehin, UK editor-in-chief at ELLE Decoration Magazine, and Emily Campbell, director of design at the Royal Society of Arts, were among the judges.

Alice Liddell, lecturer for graphics and media at the College of North West London, said: “To win an international competition is a fantastic achievement and is credit to the work put in.

“It was such an inspiring challenge which really got us thinking about how art and design can powerfully communicate the concept and meaning of peace visually, which words cannot necessarily achieve.”