Case Study: Open University Wales, REACH

Open University Wales, REACH

The Client:

In 2025 and 2026 the Open University REACH project identified 5 areas across Wales and worked with a variety of creative practitioners to organise creative workshops to generate a range of artworks.

We got involved because:

Initially the Open University hired Rhys from Webber Photo (part of Webber Design) to work with two of the REACH chosen communities - Sandfields in Port Talbot and Bute Town in Cardiff.

Rhys made several visits to Ysbryd Y Môr residential home in Sandfields, Port Talbot to shoot photographic portraits of residents. These portraits (plus personal histories) formed the core of the 'Atgofion' book, designed by Webber Design.

We were later commissioned to work with the Bute Town community, photographing the 'Amarah girls group Taste the World project' where local girls of Somali and Ethiopian heritage were learning to cook foods of the world. We also shot portraits of the girls and staff. These images made up the core of the 'Amarah: Taste the World' book, designed by Webber Design.

After completion of this work we were invited to pitch for the the REACH digital exhibition website - to accompany the (meatspace) exhibition at St Ffagan, Cardiff... and we won!

"Webber Design have been brilliant to work with on our digital exhibition website. Professional, attentive and responsive throughout, they took the time to understand what we wanted to achieve and offered expert advice on what would work best. They were always happy to talk through ideas and accommodate our requests, making the whole process feel collaborative and straightforward. We’re delighted with the result and would highly recommend them."

Dan Jewson, Partnership Manager, Open University Wales.

What We Did:

  • Photographic portraits of Ysbryd Y Môr residents
  • Design and production of 'Atgofion' book
  • Photo documentary of 'Taste the World' workshops at Amarah Girls Group, Bute Town
  • Photographic portraits of Amarah Girls Group
  • 'Amarah: Taste the World' book design and production
  • REACH digital exhibition website

Ysbryd Y Môr book: Atgofion

 

 

Webber Design's Rhys shot photographic portraits of residents and staff at Ysbryd Y Môr residential home in Sandfields, Port Talbot.

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Amarah: Taste the World Book

Below are some of the layouts of the 'Amarah: Taste The World' book which contains portraits of the girls, documentary photography of their cooking and creative writing workshops, poetry and recipes.

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REACH Digital Exhibition

After completing the above work we were invited to pitch for the REACH Digital Exhibition which accompanies the physical exhibition at St. Ffagan, Cardiff.

We worked with the REACH main website to create a microsite to feature all the work, including:

  • Photography of all physical exhibits (hundreds of shots)
  • Design of community/area specific graphics for each community
  • Design and build of the digital exhibition
  • Filtering system for ease of finding the exhibits the users are most interested in
  • Tagging system to allow users to follow a content journey
  • AAA Level Accessibility achieved

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