Conestoga news

August 26, 2016 12:12 PM

Graphic Design students win industry awards

A group of Conestoga’s Graphic Design graduates and students have been honoured with awards from the Association of Registered Graphic Designers (RGD).

RDG evaluated 220 submissions from design students representing more than 30 post-secondary schools across Canada before announcing winners of its 2016 Student Awards competition. RGD is an industry organization that sets professional standards and promotes education for its membership of 3,100 design practitioners.

Gregory Hergott’s entry, titled FRAGMENTS: A Breakdown of Human Thought, received a national award of excellence as the winner of the Haft2 Award for Colour, and a national award of specialty with a win for the Parcel Award for Print Design. Hergott also received honourable mentions in two other categories: the Quarry Award for Western Ontario and the Forge Award for Typography.

Carmen Fasan received the Quarry Award for Western Ontario, a regional award of excellence.

Hergott and Fasan, both 2016 Graphic Design graduates, will each receive a $1,000 prize and their work will be printed and distributed to 7,000 design professionals across Canada.

Judges, made up of a panel of more than 80 industry professionals, also awarded a number of honourable mentions to other Conestoga students: Sarah Leeson - Quarry Award for Western Ontario, Drew Boyle - Bell Media Award for Motion Graphics and Michelle Lopes - Cundari Award for Advertising/Promotion Design.

"This year was a tough year for judging. There were so many excellent submissions, winners and non-winners alike, it was hard to make a final decision,” said Karen Satok, RGD vice president of education. "Everyone who submitted should be proud of their accomplishments and the effort taken.”

Hergott and Graphic Design students Phoebe Miller, Simon Olbach and Steven Tachauer were also recently named winners of the Applied Arts Awards. Applied Arts is billed as Canada’s premier magazine of visual communications and its readership includes creative and marketing professionals.

Entries were received from students across Canada and the U.S. and scored on creative merit, technical excellence and suitability for end use.

The four Conestoga winners will have their work published in the November/December 2016 Student Awards annual that will be circulated to the magazine’s readership of 46,000, and will be published in the magazine’s Winners’ Gallery and Awards Archive in November. Their work will also be displayed at the Creative Futures Expo, November 8-9 at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.

Students in Conestoga’s Graphic Design advanced diploma program have access to up-to-date technologies including software, hardware and printing facilities required for success in the industry. Limited enrolment and small class sizes ensure student access to award-winning faculty with professional experience in the field of graphic design, packaging, photography and illustration.

The program employs a project-based learning approach that addresses design, digital content creation, communication, inter-personal, mechanical, technical and enhanced employability skills.

Visit the Graphic Design program page for more information.