Budding artists from Melbourne and throughout Victoria have been putting their creative skills to the test in an effort to devise a new commemorative birth certificate as part of a Victorian Registry of Births, Death and Marriage (BDM) initiative.
Currently parents have been able to celebrate the birth of their child by selecting one of eight specifically designed commemorative birth certificates, but the BDM wanted to broaden the choices.
According to BDM’s Erin Keleher, a new design had not been introduced in almost 20 years.
As a result, a competition was launched to invite local artists to submit new birth certificate designs that reflected a more contemporary and fresh approach, and something a little different from those already available.
The entries incorporated a host of themes ranging from native animals with a backdrop of earthy tones to street scenes in a rainbow of colours.
In total, the competition, which offered $3,000 in prize money, attracted about 30 innovative works. The high standard would have also made them ideal to be featured on quality material such as brochure printing.
Ms. Keleher said it was great to see the creative ideas presented by entrants for the new certificate, which is set to be launched in July 2014.
The competition also marks 160 years of service by the Victorian BDM which was historically among the first public entities available in the state.
