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2021 Student Award Winners

Multiple open book spreads

Context Creative Award for Storytelling Design: Maham Momin

Winning Project: Crooked Line

This collective, through photographs and typography reflecting displacement and fragmentation, aims to connect and educate children of South Asian immigrants, through stories of their ancestors filling the gaps in the knowledge, experiences and culture that are often felt by the South Asian children abroad. The red circles further connected with each other represents community and at the same time show intergenerational trauma as a result of the partition and migration.

Award Sponsor: Context Creative; School: OCAD University, Toronto, ON; Educator Support: Keith Rushton

Honourable Mentions:

Judges

  • Amanda Boltë RGD, Creative Director in London, ON
  • Christine Caruso, Senior Associate, Strategy & Content at Context Creative in Toronto, ON
  • Cecilia Martinez, Interactive Design Manager at Unbounce in Vancouver, BC. 
  • Andrea Rodriguez RGD, Toronto, ON
Screenshot of Eric Co's Portfolio Website Landing Page

.design Award for Promotional Website: Eric Co

Winning Project: Eric Co Portfolio Website

  • Simple and clean, the layout reflects the designer's personality and style while allowing the content to shine through. The home page is marked by an abstract and playful branded pattern that sparks curiosity and interest.

Award Sponsor: .design; School: George Brown College, Toronto, ON

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

On the left, the Indigenous Language Learning App logo. On the right, multiple mobile screens showing different pages of the app

Design de Plume Award for Indigenous Design: Marko Jones

Winning Project: Indigenous Language Learning App

Moytel was designed to reconnect Indigenous teens to their culture and languages. Eagle illustration by Todd Baker and frog illustration by Glen Rabena.

Award Sponsor: Design de Plume; School: Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Tony Romito, Founder of Atiigo Media Inc. in Iqaluit, Nunavut

  • Mark Rutledge RGD, Lead Designer at Animikii, Inc. & National President of the Graphic Designers of Canada

  • Katie Wilhelm RGD, Indigenous Graphic Designer & Marketing Consultant in London, ON

  • Jennica Robinson Provisional RGD, Senior Graphic Designer at Design de Plume in Sudbury, ON

Six (6) stamps, each with different letters that altogether spell "CANADA"

Domtar Award for Print Design: Patrick Blagits Dona

Winning Project: Canadian Stamp

Created as a part of a school project, this simple yet effective stamp design and First Day Cover represent Canada and were to be issued by Canada Post.

Award Sponsor: Domtar; School: Niagara College, Niagara Falls, ON

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Gillian Goldie RGD 
  • Kelly Hartman, Creative Director, Graphic Designer
  • Susan Jones, Graphic Designer at Domtar in Fort Mill, SC
  • Capucine Labarthe, Lead Designer at Wedge in Montreal 
  • Gigi Lau RGD, Art Director at Harlequin Trade Publishing, a division of HarperCollins Canada in  Toronto, ON
Three (3) Fragments Music Festival posters

Entro Award for Placemaking Design: Aidan Zecchel

Winning Project: Fragments Music Festival

Fragments, an alternative music/arts festival features multi-instrumentalists and looping artists. Keeping the audience and theme in mind, an illustrative and typographic treatment was developed to capture the integration of sound layers and elements coming together. The festival collateral uses sections of the original artwork to represent abstract slices of sound. The expressive treatment diverges from the traditional photography-based positioning of most large music festivals and suggests a more art-centric and dynamic experience rather than just a big party.

Award Sponsor: Entro; School: Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC; Educator Support: Dominique Walker and Ben Frey

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

Promotional billboard for Escape on the street

Forge Media + Design Award for Logo Design: Sydney Gittens, Natalie Smith and Alvin Zheng

Winning Project: Escape

Escape is a Canadian digital music platform dedicated to amplify diverse local artists while encouraging musical exploration and experimentation. The name speaks to the genre-less music genre, Escape Room, while the identity speaks to an early internet era when the Canadian media cared about the growth of local artists.

Award Sponsor: Forge Media + Design; School: OCAD University, Toronto, ON; Educator Support: Nick Goso and Segunda Gar

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Nathalie Cusson, Creative Director, Design at Le Parc Design, Juniper Park \TBWA in Toronto, ON
  • Carolyn Harman RGD, Creative Principal at Carolyn Harman Design & Graphic Designer with the City of Ottawa, ON
  • Niël Havemann, Senior Digital Experience Designer at Forge Media + Design in Toronto, ON
  • Shannon Hewlko, Creative Director at Roadmap Agency in Calgary, AB
  • Liz Wurzinger RGD, Senior Designer at Subplot Design Inc in Vancouver, BC
Multiple SPACE(S) publication open spreads

Frontier Award for Editorial Design: Aviva Davis, Monique Germain, Jessica Li and Nicole Yamamoto

Winning Project: SPACE(S)

SPACE(S) is an edition of Emily Carr University's Woo Publication, a magazine that showcases student work from all disciplines. This Fall issue dropped at at time when the world needed a space for political, social, physical, mental and emotional awareness and SPACE(S) is the SPACE for that.

Award Sponsor: Frontier; School: Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Vancouver, BC; Educator Support: Cecilia Sanchez Navarro and Lori MacDonald – Emily Carr Students' Union

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Ross Chandler RGD, Founder & Creative Director of Becoming Design Office in Victoria, BC
  • Kateland Clarke, Design Director at Pound & Grain in Vancouver, BC
  • Robin Miller RGD, Senior Graphic Designer & Branding Creative in BC
  • Esther Sunghee Byun RGD, Founder and Senior Designer at ESTHER SUNGHEE, Toronto, ON
  • Roland Haddad, Visual Communications Manager at Air Canada in Montreal, QC
  • Krista McEachern​ RGD​, Owner of Kree Design
  • Paul Kawai, Design Director at Frontier in Toronto, ON
Four (4) mobile screens showing a preview of Bloc Finance mobile app

Gravity Inc Award for Social Good Design: Coralie Mayer-Traynor, Annika McFarlane and Rocio Palomar Robisco

Winning Project: BLOC 

Bloc is a digital wallet powered by blockchain technology, and is meant for use by undocumented immigrants to budget, save and make payments from any location providing quick access to humanitarian financial aid and peer-to-peer transactions. With a recommended use of 2 years, Bloc’s mission is to provide financial tools for everyone to participate in the world’s economy. To make the app user-friendly special attention was given to branding, language, trust-building and the accessibility features.

Award Sponsor: Gravity Inc.; School: Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC; Educator Support: Christina Lee Kim Koon

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

Lumi custom packaging showing three (3) panels. On the bottom right, a lightbulb

Greenmelon Award for Packaging Design (Single): Emily Wentland

Winning Project: Lumi

While most packaging is discarded, Lumi is a unique lightbulb packaging that can be turned into a lampshade. Inspired by fireflies and designed carefully using two pieces to avoid breakage of the lightbulb, the larger piece can be used as a lampshade with openings for light to pass through, projecting a whimsical design on the surrounding walls.

Award Sponsor: Greenmelon; School: York University/Sheridan College, Toronto/Oakville, ON; Educator Support: Albert Ng RGD Emeritus

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Vida Jurcic RGD, Partner and Co-Creative Director, Hangar 18 Design Continuum, Vancouver BC
  • Diego Lopez RGD
  • Ryan Romero, Senior Art Director at Monday Creative Inc. in Vancouver, BC
  • Robert Smith RGD, Founder of Greenmelon, in Ottawa, ON
  •  Xandr Sutjiadi RGD, Founder of ArtOverMatter Creative Inc. in Calgary, AB
Three (3) Primavera Gelateria packagings, each of different flavours

Haft2 Award for Colour: Mark Calulo

Winning Project: Primavera Gelateria – Sanctuary of Confections Branding

Use of dynamic colours is the key design solution for Primavera's new line of exotic flavoured ice creams. Beautiful spring colours not only portray the brand concept but also reflect the promise of a healthier way of living full of vim and vigor. The design drew inspiration from flowerpots combined with the beauty of geometric patterns using an assemblage of basic shapes that create a balance of colours and figures. The vibrant colours help capture attention showing shelf presence effectively.

Award Sponsor: Haft2; School: LaSalle College Vancouver, Vancouver, BC; Educator Support: Anne Ahmad 

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Grace Partridge, Director of Brand at Tuft and Paw in Vancouver, BC
Teach Engage Access packaging box and booklet guide

Intent Award for Accessible Design: Lauren Cain

Winning Project: Teach Engage Access

In order to better equip designers to create accessible content and for easy access to resources, an engaging motion graphics was designed to pique interest of the audience along with a handbook to highlight the most important information (with easy-access thanks to QR codes).

Award Sponsor: Intent; School: George Brown College, Toronto, ON; Educator Support: Paul Haslip

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • James Bisch, Creative Director at Intent in Toronto, ON
  • Diana Campbell RGD, Digital Experience Manager at Alberta Blue Cross in Edmonton, AB
Two desktop screen previews of the Arise website on the right. On the top left, the arise logo. Underneath the logo, a quote that reads "Align your employee's goals with your company's mission"
Three (3) mobile screens with a preview of Forme mobile app, with a phrase on top that reads "Posture in Real-Time". On the bottom left, the Force logo.

Nurun Award for User Experience Design Winners (Tie)

Winning Project: Arise by Samantha Lam Student RGD, Kacey Lee Student RGD and Irene Li Student RGD, 

Arise, a career growth application, by focusing on goal setting, certifications, skills and career analysis, connects employees with companies who in alignment their future goals. The app was developed after multiple interviews with the target audience and after several rounds of user-testing. Arise aims to promote positive, growth oriented work culture in companies.

Award Sponsor: Nurun; School: York University/Sheridan College, Toronto/Oakville, ON; Educator Support: Borzu Talaie

Winning Project: Forme by Kelsie Leung, Irene Li, Suyue (Amy) Liao and Sam Yang

Forme is a smart posture correction device integrated with LiDAR and Pressure Sensors designed to help users understand their posture habits in real-time. A fully customizable experience, Forme provides insights, reports and daily, weekly, monthly metrics. The non-invasive device comes with a companion app.

Award Sponsor: Nurun; School: York University/Sheridan College, Toronto/Oakville, ON; Educator Support: James March

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Yasemin Çenberoglu, Director of Design at Digitalist in Vancouver, BC
  • Belinda Burr RGD, User Experience Visual Designer
  • Genevieve Metropolis RGD, UX Manager at Canada Post in Toronto, ON
An open spread from the Epidemic of Apprehension publication

Pivot Award for Information Design: Ella Taylor

Winning Project: Epidemic of Apprehension

This book is designed to educate Canadians about the history and oppression experienced by the Indigenous in Canada. It is designed to act as a reference point or artefact for people considering addressing racism within their families or friend groups. The book was designed keeping in mind those affected, presenting difficult-to-digest facts simply with clear steps on the way forward.

Award Sponsor: Pivot Design Group; School: Wilson School of Design (Kwantlen), Richmond, BC; Educator Support: Marga Lopez

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Paul Broughan, Senior Graphic Designer at DIALOG in Calgary, AB
  • Segundo dela Cruz, Senior Graphic Designer at Ipsos Canada in Vancouver, BC
  • Franziska Erlebach RGD, Design Director at Sid Lee in Toronto
  • Lauren Levy, Senior Interaction Designer & Researcher at Pivot Design Group in Toronto, ON
White handwritten text that reads "Who's there?" over a black background

Polyester Studio Award for Motion: Helena Kim

Winning Project: Sleep Paralysis

Hand-animated and pieced together at 12 frames per second, this motion graphics video is a 90-second narrative sequence created by combining sound and kinetic typography to accurately portray the sleep paralysis experience. Grungy-textured brushes and the black and white color was used to show shadowy figures, darkness and the fear of the unknown that is experienced in the state of sleep paralysis.

Award Sponsor: Polyester Studio; School: York University/Sheridan College, Toronto/Oakville, ON, Richmond, BC; Educator Support: Zab Hobart RGD

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Seowon Bang RGD
  • Jeremy Dimmock, Partner at Polyester Studio in Toronto, ON
  • Josh Dudych, Director of Creative Services, True North Sports + Entertainment.
  • Steven Efondo, Senior Graphic Designer at Champion Petfoods LP in Edmonton
  • Brandon Grail, Senior Motion Designer at Canada Life in London, Ontario
  • David Nuff RGD
Four (4) screenshots of a desktop screen showing a preview of Google's Arabic version

Premise Award for Strategic Design: Adel Bechara

Winning Project: Localizing Brands

Localizing Brands is an initiative that creates designs, brands and services that invite young people to embrace and connect with their cultural heritage. Using Google as a prototype, the Arabic version was reconfigured to include an Arabic logo and typefaces that match Google’s identity and aligns with the Latin typeface. The prototype also included a Google service specifically made for Lebanon, Fos7a, which helps translate between the two forms of Arabic: the Spoken Arabic and the Modern Standard Arabic or MSA.

Award Sponsor: Premise; School: OCAD University, Toronto, ON; Educator Support: Isabel Meirelles

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

Two (2) stacked Ardent Student publications on the sand

q30 design Award for Brand Design: Anara Ibrayeva

Winning Project: Ardent Student

Localizing Brands is an initiative that creates designs, brands and services that invite young people to embrace and connect with their cultural heritage. Using Google as a prototype, the Arabic version was reconfigured to include an Arabic logo and typefaces that match Google’s identity and aligns with the Latin typeface. The prototype also included a Google service specifically made for Lebanon, Fos7a, which helps translate between the two forms of Arabic: the Spoken Arabic and the Modern Standard Arabic or MSA.

Award Sponsor: q30 design; School: George Brown College, Toronto, ON; Educator Support: Kristine Do and Nicole Dimson RGD

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Giulia Bonforte RGD, Senior Graphic Designer at Burrard Properties in Vancouver
  • Alan Chan RGD, Art director/Creative lead for the CBC 
  • Edmund Lam, Executive Creative Director at Bleublancrouge in Montreal, QC
  • Grace Partridge, Director of Brand at Tuft and Paw in Vancouver, BC
  • Zia Somjee, Co-Founder of ZAK in Vancouver, BC
  • Tim Hoffpauir, Creative Director, Design at 123w in Vancouver, BC
  • Philip Mondor RGD, Partner, Studio Locale in Kitchener, ON
  • David Taylor RGD, Creative Director, Art Director & Graphic Designer
  • Lisa Toliver-Fox RGD, Graphic Designer & Multimedia Coordinator, City of St. Albert and Owner, Fox Design
  • Eduardo Trejos RGD, Senior Designer at Ove Brand Design in Toronto, ON
  • Jacqueline Wong, Designer at q30 design in Toronto, ON
Multiple Uzu products

Quake Award for Creative Innovation: Paco Lui Provisional, Ryan Potter, Nicholas Reeder and Geoffrey Thompson

Winning Project: Uzu

Tobu, a smart toothbrush for children is a part of Uzu (derived from "Your Zoo"), a multi-object product line facilitating good habits and fun at the same time. Tobu features a brush-time game characterized by a dog that sniffs out treasures from the child's teeth. The treasure ranges from the prehistoric to the futuristic, from gold, dinosaur bones to rockets! The accumulation of items engages that child while building a habit of brushing.

Lamu is created by Geoffrey Thompson, Camu is created by Ryan Potter, and Masku is created by Nicholas Reeder.

Award Sponsor: Quake; School: York University/Sheridan College, Toronto/Oakville, ON


Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

Three (3) packaging variations of Potheads. Each has a different character with a Pot as their head.

SLD Award for Packaging Design (Series): Tommy Truong

Winning Project: Potheads

POTHEADS aims destigmatize cannabis consumption by employing a distinct flavor of referential humor. Taking cues from modern drinking culture, POTHEADS urges potential consumers not to take cannabis too seriously. The tongue-in-cheek illustration on the packaging satirize existing “pothead” tropes, including a 1960s hippie, a 1990s skater and an early 2010s hipster. Additionally, the box is constructed from recycled paper and without adhesives, making it an environmentally friendly product.

Award Sponsor: SLD; School: York University/Sheridan College, Toronto/Oakville, ON; Educator Support: Albert Ng RGD Emeritus

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

A desktop and a laptop showing a preview of the Slate Website

Works Design Award for Web Design: Dayoung Lee

Winning Project: Slate Website Design

Slate, an exciting Vancouver-based clothing brand, wants to make an ethical and conscious fashion line to offer women beautiful but sustainable options. This project is a redesign of their website to develop a user-friendly E-commerce website reflecting their brand philosophy.

Award Sponsor: Works Design; School: Fanshawe College, London, ON 

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Nelson Silva, Creative Director, Works Design in Toronto, ON
  • Trevor Wall, Senior Art Director/Developer at Creative Fire
  • Kevin Charles Ward, Senior Art Director, Works Design in Toronto, ON
Custom illustration that references Disney's "The Jungle Book"

Zulu Alpha Kilo Award for Advertising Design: Annika McFarlane

Winning Project: Sierra Club BC Social Media Ad Campaign

A social media campaign for Sierra Club BC, an environmental and conservation group, through use of pop culture, humor and playful illustration aims to encourage the younger generations to raise awareness about environmental issue by sharing the campaign on social media. 

The Sierra Club BC logo was not created by Annika.

Award Sponsor: Zulu Alpha Kilo; School: Capilano University, North Vancouver, BC; Educator Support: Judy Snaydon

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Nik Reid RGD, Partner and Associate Creative Director of adHOME Creative Inc., London, ON
  • Jenny Smith, President & Executive Creative Director, Ray in St. John’s, NF 
  • Simone St. Aimée, Art Director atTANK Worldwide in Toronto, ON
Three (3) posters in vibrant colours, each with a different custom letter of the alphabet

52 Pick-up Award for Typography: Yasaman Fakhr

Winning Project: Music Land

Showcasing the impact of music on creativity, these typographical alphabets, letter and punctuation marks were developed as a part of an extensive 70-day school project. To create this type, the designer collected 7 song recommendations for 10 friends which they listened to on repeat daily for 30 minutes while creating the type. Each type is inspired a song. To present the result, the type was packaged into two posters and also posted individually on Instagram.

Award Sponsor: 52 Pick-up; School: George Brown College, Toronto, ON; Educator Support: Nicole Dimson RGD 

Honourable Mentions:

Judges:

  • Rina Alfonso RGD, Creative Director of Studio Aorta
  • Courtney Echlin, Freelance Graphic Design, Vancouver, BC
  • Nick Monteleone, Co-Founder and Creative Director at 52 Pick-up Inc in Toronto