The BJ Ball Student Design Contest was back in 2021— Here’s a Look at the 12 Winning Entries…
For many years the BJ Ball Calendar was a mainstay design contest for any Tertiary student studying graphic design in New Zealand. The premise was simple—submit a design that answers the brief. Following the contest, the 12 winning entries were featured in the calendar, which went out to print companies and design studios around the country.
For the winning students, this meant industry recognition. For BJ Ball, the calendar was a platform to showcase a range of paper stocks. A win-win situation.
The Brief
The contest took a hiatus for several years before returning in 2020. Last year, despite all the interruptions due to Covid, the competition ran again. The brief was simple—create a single image based on the theme ‘Back to the Future’, match it to a BJ Ball paper grade and submit this as print-ready artwork.
The Judges
The judges for 2021 were Mike Tisdall (Insight Creative, Auckland), Stephen McCarthy (McCarthy Studio, Christchurch) and Annie Dow (Dow Goodfolk, Auckland). As in 2020, the standard was high and the judges had their work cut out for them! But, they landed on 12 winning entries.
The Winners
Winners came from a number of Tertiary institutions from around New Zealand, including AUT, Unitec, Yoobee, Victoria University and Wintec. Unfortunately, due to Covid restrictions, the winners could not attend the calendar press-pass in Auckland to see their work come to life. However, they did receive a Prezzy card and more importantly, gained recognition as a BJ Ball Design Contest winner. As always, the calendar was well received by industry which shows that whilst print design may be considered ‘old school’— it’s still a valuable skill.
The Next Student Design Contest
The good news is the contest will be going ahead again this year! Entry details, plus the Brief, will be announced in June, with the close-off date likely to be early September. So keep an eye on the GSM website or our social media pages. Plus, thanks to our friends at Ball & Doggett in Australia, the 2022 Design contest will be open to Tertiary students in both Australia and New Zealand.
2021 Winning Entries:
January: ‘Wāhine Haerenga’
Student: Jordan Tane, @jordanleetane
Institute: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Stock: Silk Matt 210gsm
February: ‘Chair as a Metaphor’
Student: Farin Dickinson, @fzd_esign
Institute: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Stock: Advance Laser 240gsm
March: ‘Evolution of Music Players’
Student: Zhanna Ten, @migls_art
Institute: Unitec Institute of Technology
Stock: Silk Matt 210gsm
April: ‘The Evolution of Mainstream Media’
Student: Anita Parapunova,@ap.designspace
Institute: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Stock: Evergreen Environment Tortilla 216gsm
May: ‘Forward & Back’
Student: Kristina Iastrebova, @sjxj.3.indd
Institute: Unitec Institute of Technology
Stock: Silk Matt 210gsmMay
June: ‘No Strings Attached’
Student: Akash Patel, @skydesignhouse
Institute: Yoobee School of Design
Stock: Advance Laser 240gsm
July: ‘Call from the Past’
Student: Renee Heayns, @flying.foxes.ink
Institute: Victoria University of Wellington
Stock: Silk Matt 210gsm
August: ‘The Message’
Student: Maria Pilar, @mar_creates
Institute: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Stock: Magno Plus Gloss 250gsm
September: ‘Someone Will Think of Us’
Student: Francesca Melis, @mfrancescamelis
Institute: Yoobee School of Design
Stock: Silk Matt 210gsm
October: ‘Helvetica; Old to Neue’
Student: Bailey Sunnex, @studio_sunnex
Institute: Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec)
Stock: SIlk Matt 210gsm
November: ‘Melting Future’
Student: Chiara Di Giovanni, @chiara.di.giovanni
Institute: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Stock: Silk Matt 210gsm
December: ‘Revamped Ruins’
Student: Abbey Barlow, @abbeyz_art
Institute: Auckland University of Technology (AUT)
Stock: Magno Plus Gloss 250gsm
2022 Student Design Contest
BJ Ball (NZ) and Ball & Doggett (Australia) will announce the 2022 Design contest for Tertiary students in both New Zealand and Australia in June. So keep an eye on the GSM website or our social media pages for entry details and the Brief in June. The close-off date will be early September 2022.
This article was originally published in GSM18. To read this, and other great articles, purchase this issue here.
