Winning sign design to receive finishing touches

Published on 26 February 2019

A question mark over the silhouette of sign in the desert

Melbourne-based graphic designer and artist Joe Scerri has won Council's gateway signage competition, however his design won't be unveiled just yet.

Mr Scerri has worked with a variety of design studios, advertising agencies and multimedia studios in Sydney, Basel, Zurich, and London, and established his own independent graphic design consultancy in 1996.

Mr Scerri was contacted by Council yesterday and was elated upon being informed of his success.

Councillor Jim Nolan from the judging panel said Mr Scerri also extended a kind gesture to Broken Hill's indigenous community.

"Mr Scerri's design contains some indigenous elements, and he has asked to be able to work with local indigenous artists to further refine those aspects his design and ensure it accurately reflects the culture of the Barkindji people," he said.

"I found that approach to the project to be really impressive and thorough.

"He could have easily just taken the prize money and walked away, but instead he's determined to put in some extra work and ensure the design has an authentic local feel."

Council will now seek to have Mr Scerri engage with members of the Freshbark indigenous art program run by the Broken Hill Regional Art Gallery.

The winning entry will be unveiled when this engagement process is completed.

Overall, the Gateway Signage competition attracted 73 entries from Broken Hill and across Australia. The judging panel was pleased to see so many entries and thanked all entrants for their involvement.

The winner was selected by a judging panel consisting of:

  • Darriea Turley (Mayor)
  • Paul Davies (Broken Hill Heritage Advisor)
  • Councillor Jim Nolan (Vice-Chair 'Our Economy' Key Direction Working Group)
  • Kathy Graham (West Darling Arts)
  • Anthony Hayward (Amanya Mitha Indigenous Art Gallery)