Overt success for Jack Eke

Portrait photo of student Jack Eke

Student creates a clothing line with a message. 

Jack Eke studied a BA Creative Media and Visual Communication Top-up degree at UCEN Manchester and found that it led him down a rewarding career path. 

Having lived with a life-long speech impediment, Jack was inspired by the work he saw at the ‘4Designers’ conference, a gathering of hundreds of UK and international students, where four speakers explain their different approaches to graphic design, and their route into industry.

He began his own self-directed project with the help of his personal tutor to create a clothing line with a big message that reflected his own identity.

His clothing brand ‘Overt’ was intended to directly address inconsiderate behaviour towards those with a stutter.

Jack said: “It annoys me the way people respond to my stutter. I wanted to bring an awareness to the cause and show how people with a stutter feel.”

Jack is now approaching The McGuire Programme with the intention of promoting his project.  The charity works with people to manage their speech impediments and helped Jack to control his stutter.

This innovative project saw Jack gain a first class honours and gave him the confidence to pursue an incredible placement at MingFeng Packaging in Switzerland.

During his placement, he shadowed Senior Vice President Scott Birtwistle and learned about packaging design, client handling and the interview processes. Jack has now developed a packaging project through the personalisation of his studies on the Practice-Based Research Unit.

Find out more about this top-up degree by calling 03333 444 222 or emailing enquiries@ucenmcr.tmc.ac.uk