Student

Our annual Student Design Contest, Seasons in Type, yielded another fab crop of entries - Here are the winners... The annual BJ Ball/Ball & Doggett Student Design Contest for 2023 followed the same format as in previous years. Two calendars were produced—one for Australia printed by Special T Print in Sydney, and a New  Zealand version printed by Centurion in Auckland. Both featured winners from their respective countries as well as a selection of ‘best of the best’ trans-Tasman winners that appeared in both. The Brief The contest brief was simple—create a colour palette for one of the four Seasons,...

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If you are a Vis-Com student with your sights set on a career as a graphic designer, at some point, you'll need to create a portfolio to showcase your skills to potential employers. In this article, we take a look at some basics to help get things moving in the right direction. First, let’s get this on the table—creating a portfolio can be challenging. So if you are feeling this way, you are certainly not alone. Aside from the high stakes of ‘getting it right’, this task can be difficult because you are curating your own work. This involves critiquing...

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For 2022, the Student Design Calendar Contest was opened up to entries from both sides of the Tasman. The result was a fantastic range of dynamic submissions - and two great calendars. Here are the winning entries... For many years the BJ Ball Student Design Content was a mainstay for tertiary students studying visual communication in New Zealand. Not only was it an exercise in offering the students some real-life experience in the world of commercial print but the students also gained recognition as a Calendar Contest winner. After taking a brief hiatus in the 2010s, BJ Ball reintroduced the...

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As a graduate, and with the end of the year in sight, you will be one of many looking to break into the industry. We, therefore, thought it might be timely to cover some basics in seeking that ever important first gig> Anyone who has built a successful design career—knows how hard it is to secure that first industry gig. So, you’re most definitely not alone. With approximately a thousand design students graduating every year in New Zealand, realistically, there are not enough positions for everyone (at least—not at the same top agencies). As a graduate, you’re in a school...

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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....

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