Think of postcards popular in seaside resorts and saucy images of pneumatic beauties and their weedy husbands usually come to mind.

But get a celebrity to design the card and the result can be altogether more surprising.

A group of students from the University of Brighton commissioned dozens of postcard designs from stars across the world and were amused, and a little bemused, by the results.

Many of the designs were impressively artistic while some were bafflingly surreal and others were downright rude.

Fast Show comedian Mark Williams, 45, from Brighton, enlisted the help of his two-year-old daughter Lilly to come up with an arresting collage of green and yellow feathers, pasta shapes and pink tissue paper.

Fiona Shaw, who plays Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter films, painted a still life watercolour of fruit and glasses while actor Warwick Davis, who played the title role in fantasy film Willow, painted a landscape.

Artist and author Raymond Briggs, who lives near Ditchling, personalised his card with one of his favourite characters, Fungus the Bogeyman, while Eighties children's TV presenter Tony Hart drew an elephant balancing a ball on its trunk.

Actress Emma Thompson's card shows a pig holding up a glass and reads: "Pig in unsuitable thong with martini".

Jo Brand bought her own postcard of male waxwork dummies holding canes and added fruity comments in speech bubbles.

Organisers Lucy Hutchings, 23, of Trafalgar Street, Brighton, and Rhian Solomon, 23, of Stafford Road, Brighton, sent a postcard to 300 celebrities and artists and asked them to make the blank canvas their own.

After three months they have had more than 80 replies, which will all be auctioned with proceeds going towards the £12,000 it will cost the 40 students to show their work at the New Designers exhibition in Islington, North London, in July.

They have already raised £8,000 and hope the postcards will net them the rest.

The star lot is a postcard with the words "Bang Bono 2005" signed by the lead singer of U2, which comes with a limited edition CD and DVD together with a book of artwork by the band.

Lucy, a jewellery designer, said: "Some people have really gone to a lot of effort and taken the time to do something special. Sally Gunnell has drawn this beautiful graphic design around the edge of hers and a couple of amateur watercolour artists have done paintings.

"A lot of celebrities just signed their postcards so we have had a nightmare trying to read the signatures and work out whose is whose.

"Others like Michael Caine have sent signed photos but he signed his on the black part of the photo so you can only see it if you hold it up to the light.

"Some of the cards are a bit crazy - it must be all those artistic juices flowing."

Model Nell McAndrew, former England player and manager Kevin Keegan and Terry Wogan donated signed photos.

Ceramicist Chris Keenan sent a turquoise ceramic star attached to his card with a ribbon while artist Cheryl Pitt-Kennedy returned two cards with drawings of birds embellished with gold leaf.

Lucy highlighted the sterling work of Sir Patrick Moore, who contributed to the collection despite health problems.

She said: "He has drawn some planets and sent a letter with the card to apologise for his drawing because he is quite ill."

The postcards will be auctioned at The Sussex Arts Club in Ship Street, Brighton, tonight, starting at 7.30pm. Tickets cost £2.