A woman who never dreamed she would have a career in design after dropping out of university can now see her artwork on supermarket shelves.

Esther Johnson, from Rainham had her unique coffee tins chosen as one of five winners for the Nescafe Azera by Design competition.

The contest, which has been running for three years, offers five young people supported by The Prince’s Trust the opportunity to design a limited edition tin for Azera coffee.

Winners receive £1000, two concert tickets and their design printed on tins sold nationwide.

Esther set up her illustration business Designed by Esther with the support of The Prince’s Trust charity in 2017 and since then has worked with museums and heritage sites, including The Natural History Museum, the House of Commons and Canterbury Cathedral, to create bespoke illustrations for their gift shops.

With this year’s design brief themed on “making a difference”, Esther said she chose sunflowers and roses “to create a bright and cheery design to make a difference to someone’s day”.

She joked: “Three things that are very close to my heart are The Prince’s Trust, design and coffee.”

A career in design was something Esther never thought was possible after she left university suffering with depression and anxiety.

She said: “With no design degree and my last qualification being a grade D in art, I felt it was very unlikely I would get work in the design industry.”

Esther found a part-time job in a fabric shop, where she was introduced to the enterprise programme at The Prince’s Trust.

She said: “Joining The Prince’s Trust and partnering with my mentor Peter Wright was crucial to building back the confidence I had lost.”

Esther’s first design job was three new collections for The Historic Dockyard, Chatham, in November 2017.

Since then she has gone on to work with local schools, businesses and heritage sites, as well as being an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust.

She said: “To win one of the places in this competition has been an incredible opportunity to hopefully further my design career.

“Becoming a young ambassador for The Prince’s Trust feels like a full circle moment. Being able to share my story and help other young people has been a valuable part of my journey.”