The BJ BALL Student Design Contest is back – and better than ever!
Designing for print is an essential skill for graphic designers in the commercial world. For design students, however, the complexities and costs involved mean that gaining real world experience is often prohibitive. Cue BJ Ball, who last year resurrected their Calendar Design Competition. For those of you too young to know, this was a staple event within the extended Vis Com curriculum many years ago. Their aim was to give design students an opportunity to have their creations brought to life using real world print.
From Brief to Print
BJ Ball put the challenge out to kiwi design students. – Using the theme ‘Seasons’, create a design, match it to a BJ Ball paper grade and submit print-ready artwork.
The judges for the competition were Cathy Veninga from the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ), Mike Tisdall from Insight Creative and Dayna Stiles from Clear Design, Australia. Dayna was a past student winner back in 2006. As Dayna reflected, she found the contest a particularly gratifying process,
‘Some of the major things I learned were – How to read and interpret a brief, how to create and supply artwork correctly and the difference between RGB and CMYK. It’s not until you are actually doing it, that it starts to make real sense. I learned how much paper can impact your perception of things. After receiving a copy of the calendar and seeing the stocks other students had selected, I realised I had chosen one that was rather uninteresting…’
For the contest, judging criteria was based on:
- Is the design suitable for print?
- Does the choice of paper fit with the design?
- Has the file been setup correctly?
- Is the design suitable for a corporate calendar?
- Is the design visually appealing?
Design Contest Winners
Normally, there would be 12 winners. One winning design per month. However, for the 2021 calendar two talented young designers picked up a double. They both had two pieces of their work selected. In order to see their work come to life, the winners were invited to attend the calendar press pass at Printlounge, in Auckland . They also received a pressie card to help them with their student loan/summer plans and more importantly, gained the recognition of being a Calendar Contest winner for 2020.
The calendar has been well received by BJ Ball customers, many of whom have reminisced over their own student years at design school. Such was the success, the contest is on again for 2021, click here for details.
BJ Ball is proud to support young kiwis entering the local design and print industries.
BJ Ball 2021 Calendar – Around the Seasons
January
A Big World by Olivia Lee, @olliebeeleee
University of Auckland
BJ Ball Silk Matt 256gsm
February
Melted by Hannah Gunn, @topgunnstudio
Waikato Institute of Technology
BJ Ball Sumo Gloss 250gsm
March
Postcards from Summer by Georgia Lloyd-Burgess,
@georgiaburge
Yoobee School of Design
BJ Ball Silk Matt 256gsm
April
Auburn Autumn by Gabrielle Gill, @bella.ggg
ARA Institute of Canterbury
BJ Ball Silk Matt 256gsm
May
Paper Fall by Jordan Tane, @jordanleetane
University of Auckland
BJ Ball Silk Matt 256gsm
June
A Big World by Olivia Lee, @olliebeeleee
University of Auckland
BJ Ball Silk Matt 256gsm
July
Snowfall by Chantal McIlraith, @chantalmcilraith
Victoria University of Wellington
BJ Ball Knight Smooth 225gsm
August
Natural by Timothy Noakes, @timnoakesart
Yoobee School of Design
BJ Ball Silk Matt 256gsm
September
Spring Swallow by Jenna Billman, @jnnb_design
University of Auckland
BJ Ball Advance Laser 240gsm
October
Blooming Spring by Hannah Gunn, @topgunnstudio
Waikato Institute of Technology
BJ Ball Eco100 Natural 250gsm
November
Summer by Harper Seo, @harperxstreet
University of Auckland
BJ Ball Advance Laser 240gsm
December
A Sandy Summer by Abbey Barlow, @abbeyz_art
University of Auckland
BJ Ball Sumo Gloss 250gsm
BJ Ball and GSM would like to thank all entrants to the 2020 Student Design Contest and invite all design students currently attending a tertiary institution to enter the 2021 Design Contest here
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