Year 12 design takes Rail Safety Week message across Canberra

“Screens distract. Lives shatter.”

That is the message behind Year 12 student Manogna Thobula’s winning design for the ACT Government’s 2026 Rail Safety Week School Poster and Tram Competition.

Created as part of her Year 12 Design and Graphics assessment, Manogna’s work was selected as the hero design for Rail Safety Week. It will be used across the campaign’s promotional materials and ACT Government channels, as well as appearing on specially wrapped light rail vehicles across Canberra.

The semester-long project gave Burgmann’s Year 11 and 12 Design and Graphics students the opportunity to work to a genuine brief, design for a public audience and receive feedback from industry professionals throughout the development process.

Students were required to create both a poster and a tram wrap, presenting an additional design challenge. A message that works on a static poster also needs to be quickly understood when it appears on a moving vehicle.

Manogna said simplicity became particularly important when adapting her concept for the tram.

“If it’s simple, then it’s easier to read. The audience can read it clearly, especially when it’s moving,” she said.

Her concept uses a cracked-screen treatment to illustrate the consequences of distraction around light rail. The central character is focused on a phone and wearing headphones, unaware of the approaching tram.

Industry mentoring was also an important part of the project. Students received feedback from John Mikita from Transit Graphics and CMET Community Engagement Officer Giuliana Baggoley, giving them the opportunity to experience the process of receiving professional advice and applying it to their work.

Head of Arts and Design Faculty Cherie Robinson said Manogna’s willingness to respond to that feedback was one of the things that made her stand out.

“She also listened to feedback, not only from me as the teacher, but also from the mentors,” Cherie said.

Rather than becoming fixed on her initial ideas, Manogna continued to refine her work each time feedback was provided, strengthening both the design and its message.

For Cherie, the opportunity for students to see their work move beyond an assessment task was one of the most valuable aspects of the competition.

“It’s not like another assignment. It’s actually something that you could win and have your work published, which is such a big achievement, especially in high school,” she said.

Manogna also valued the opportunity to experience graphic design beyond the classroom.

“Usually in school we don’t get a lot of exposure to the outside world. We just do these assignments for school,” she said.

“This program has helped me a lot to gain exposure about the outside world and how graphic design works.”

The project also allowed Manogna to extend her skills in Adobe Illustrator and experience the process of developing a concept for different applications and audiences.

Manogna is already considering a future in design and has applied to study a Bachelor of Design after completing Year 12.

For the next 12 months, her design will be seen across Canberra’s light rail network, taking a piece of work that began as a Year 12 assessment task well beyond the classroom.