The stairwell at Kleve Library is set to become a colourful sight! Following the positive response and outstanding results, the library organised its ‘Colour the Stairs’ student competition for the third time during the Summer semester of 2026.
To make climbing the stairs in Kleve’s seven-storey library building more appealing, the library launched the ‘Colour the Stairs’ student competition in 2024 in collaboration with the Faculty of Communication and Environment and the Department of Facility Management. The aim was clear: anyone who chooses not to take the lift should be rewarded with the enjoyment of art at no cost. To this end, budding designers from the ‘Information and Communication Design’ Degree programme were brought on board.
After the students on the ‘Drawing II’ course had visited the library stairwell in Kleve in April, together with their lecturer in illustration, Björn Steinmetzler, they created a variety of designs to enhance it. The library’s key requirements were creativity and the use of bright colours. This year, the students were also asked to address the theme ‘Keypoints of HSRW/Studying’. Twenty-four design proposals were submitted for the student competition at the end of May.
A jury comprising Christian Stindl, student representative for media production; André Ruckriegel, a member of the university’s marketing team; Stefanie Dennstedt, a member of the Study Advisory Service; Samira Jannat, a student and winner from 2024; Jonas Lamik, Head of the Library, and Maike Schön, library staff member and project coordinator, jointly selected the five best designs. The entries were assessed on the basis of conceptual depth, design quality and technical feasibility.
On Friday 10 July 2026, the five winners were announced: Diana Vereshchynska won first place with her design ‘Shared frequencies’, Nancy Bourak took second place with her entry ‘Journey’, and third place was shared by Haisu Wang with ‘Campus life’, Ngo Vo Hoang Tuan with ‘Colour your way up’ and Mehrsa Qarechei with ‘Plus loin’. Due to the high quality of the designs, third place was once again awarded to three people this year.
1st place: Diana Vereshchynska ‘Shared frequencies’
2nd place: Nancy Bourak ‘Journey’
3rd place: Haisu Wang ‘Campus life’
3rd place: Ngo Vo Hoang Tuan ‘Colour your way up’
3rd place: Mehrsa Qarechei ‘Plus loin’
Present at the announcement were the Head of the Library, Jonas Lamik, and the project coordinator, Maike Schön, along with the students on the ‘Drawing II’ course and their lecturer, Björn Steinmetzler, Birgit Solberg, representative of the Campus Cleve Friends’ Association; Christian Stindl, the professors’ representative for media production; and the 2024 winner, Samira Jannat.
Whether a design is actually realised is independent of its ranking in the student competition. Nevertheless, the library is delighted to announce that ‘Shared frequencies’ is set to adorn one floor of the stairwell in the near future. The design ‘The Stairway Odyssey’ by Samira Jannat, the 2024 winner, was already painted on the walls of the stairwell last year. The winning design from 2025, ‘Stairway to the Future’ by Alina Umanska, will be realised in mid-September. ‘Colour the Stairs’ is made possible once again thanks to financial support from the Department of Facility Management and the Förderverein Campus Cleve e.V.
