UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 18 OCTOBER 2023
Social media superstar KSI has praised a graphic design student from Birmingham City University (BCU) for his “passion, imagination and huge flair” after he won a competition to create a new Reddit icon for the famous YouTube influencer.
Hamza Ali, from Bordesley Green in Birmingham, saw off thousands of rivals from around the world with his entry, which will now be viewed by KSI’s army of 2.9m followers on the online community.
“It’s pretty amazing and it’s hard to put into words what this means,” said Ali. “KSI rarely changes his icon for Reddit, so it’s really massive. It means the entire KSI community will know my work.”
KSI, who also has more than 20 million subscribers on YouTube, added: “I’ve seen Hamza’s work all over Reddit. I love his passion, imagination and huge flair for artistic design. I know his work is in hot demand by other YouTube influencers. He is very talented.”
Ali hopes his competition win will improve his chances of impressing leading design agencies in the USA when he heads to New York later this year with a group of fellow creatives from the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at BCU.
He also plans on travelling to Japan to publicise his work next summer with a series of exhibitions.
“As a homegrown student, I am so incredibly thankful that the University has created an environment for me to follow my dreams, expand my horizon and practise my art,” said Ali. “The whole experience has been invaluable.”
Ali, who goes by the name of Ballpoint Papi on social media and has more than 40,000 followers across TikTok, X and Instagram, says he took inspiration for KSI’s love of anime when creating his artwork.
“KSI is very into Dragon Ball Z, so the icon was inspired by this and the Reddit logo,” explained Ali, who is in the final year of his studies.
KSI added: “Hamza managed to whip up a madness of colours and energy, combining all the things I love in this icon. The design is super awesome and sick.”
Sara Harris, Deputy Dean for the Faculty of Arts, Design and Media at BCU, said:“Our focus is on providing a platform for our students to develop skills and provide those life-enhancing opportunities to showcase who they are.
“Many of these competitions receive hundreds of high-quality applications. It’s fantastic to see Hamza’s spirit of creativity, hard work and growing professionalism being recognised in this way.”
Dr Umar Daraz, Director of Innovation at BCU, added: “This is an amazing achievement and a real testament to the transformative opportunities this University provides for our amazing students.”