Young Manawatu designers sought

Young Manawatu designers sought

Youthful enthusiasm and artistic flair are two key requirements for an exciting new design competition to be held in the Manawatu in September.

The Design Distinction Awards (dDawards) challenge Secondary School students to flex their creative muscle within a tight 48 hour production time limit.

Based on the popular V48 hour Film Festival format, entrants in the dDawards are required to design marketing collateral for a local cause or event.

This year’s challenge will be a campaign for Air New Zealand’s grabaseat and will take place from 7-9 September.

The competition is a joint venture between UCOL, the Eastern Institute of Technology (Hawkes Bay) and the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology. Each institute runs the competition in their own region.

Driven locally by UCOL, the competition is open to secondary school students in the Manawatu and Horowhenua regions and includes schools from Taihape to Levin. There are two age group categories: Years 9-10 and Years 11-13.

UCOL’s Head of School of Photography, Art and Design, Rachel Hoskin says, “New Zealand’s large and varied emerging talent pool has the advantage of nationwide competitions in photography and videography, such as the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Iris Awards and the V48 Hour Film Festival. Both competitions encourage student participation and the dDawards aim to give young students a similar creative outlet specifically in design.”

Participating students register through the dDawards website and during the competition weekend have access to resources at their local Polytechnic/Institutes of Technology.

All submissions will be judged and graded, with categories in Bronze, Silver and Gold. The Gold Award winners vie for the regional top prize of an iPad and a chance to claim the Supreme Award title.

The Supreme Award winner will receive return flights to Auckland courtesy of Air New Zealand Grabaseat, $250 worth of accommodation from Jasons Travel and a meet and greet with Young & Shand, a top creative agency in Auckland.

Registration is open now on the competition website: www.ddawards.ac.nz

“Next year the dDawards will be developed into a national competition. It will also be expanded to include tertiary education students and their providers, with Air New Zealand playing a fundamental role in the on-going expansion of the competition,” says Rachel.

ENDS

© Scoop Media