09.07.07
Falmouth wins record number of Global Student Awards

A record number of students – 20 in all – from University College Falmouth's BA(Hons) degrees in Graphic Design, Illustration and 3D Design, and Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Advertising are celebrating having been honoured at this year's Design & Art Direction (D&AD) Global Student Awards at a glittering ceremony in London.

Students from the College's BA(Hons) Graphic Design degree course achieved incredible success, winning First Prize Yellow Pencils in four categories. This takes the course's total number of major national and international awards up to a staggering 28 during this academic year alone.

D&AD's purpose is to set creative standards, educate, inspire and promote good design and advertising. The D&AD Global Student Awards highlight the best emerging design and advertising talent from hundreds of colleges and universities across 41 countries of the world.

Entrants were invited to respond to a number of briefs that are based on current live industry issues. These were written and judged by the world's foremost designers, advertising creatives and business professionals and to win a first prize, the winning work in each category must be bang on brief, brilliantly crafted, deftly executed, and show that special spark of creative thinking.

In the Packaging category, Sophie Towler won first prize for her cheeky Spice Up Your Bread Life packaging for Warburtons, as did Natasha Wynn for her creation of a limited celebration pack for King Cobra beer.

Andrew Manning won first prize in the Graphic Design – Postcard category for his innovative response to the brief set by promoter of underground music, film and culture, 'Don't Panic', to design a postcard to be sent from an abstract or imaginary place or time in the style of the place that it was being sent from.

In the Advertising category, Ryan Tym won first prize for his launch of three new Lonely Planet guidebooks through a series of copy-based adverts.

All first prize winners won £1,000, a much-coveted D&AD Student Yellow Pencil – the 'Oscars' of the design industry – a certificate and free D&AD membership for a year.

James Thexton also won a commendation certificate and £250 in the Advertising category for his response to Ikea's brief to create an advert suitable for viral marketing to attract new customers and create loyalty amongst the brand's young female audience.

"We are so proud of our students," commented BA(Hons) Graphic Design Course Leader, Jon Unwin. "To have won four D&AD First Prize Yellow Pencils across a range of categories from advertising to packaging is fantastic news. Coupled with this year's successes in the national Royal Society of Arts student awards and the Young Creatives Network awards, this reaffirms our position as one of the leading Graphic Design courses in the UK."

Two copywriter/art director teams from the College's Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Advertising also won second prize Yellow Pencils in these prestigious awards – Dee Saigal, Patrick Harvey and Andy Lewis for their response to Eurostar's brief to launch its Leisure Select service and encourage travellers to trial a free upgrade in the Integrated Communication category – and Vashti Hallissey and Frank Hersey for their radio commercials that encouraged advertisers to reconsider their opinion of the effectiveness of radio as a marketing medium in the Advertising category.

A third second prize Yellow Pencil for Falmouth was won by BA(Hons) 3D Design student, Stacey Dix for her design of a contemporary 3D toy for a boy or girl aged 3-8 years that encouraged interaction and imaginative play, in response to a brief set by Hamley's toy store in the Product Design (Innovation) category.

Second prizes are awarded to entries which are excellent in terms of either creative originality or craftsmanship, and winners received £400, a D&AD Student Yellow Pencil and a certificate.

The D&AD also grants 'In Book' awards to students whose work is considered worthy of inclusion in its Student Annual – the ultimate visual record of the year's best work and a benchmark of creative excellence.

Falmouth students scooped seven of these awards: Christopher Tozer from BA(Hons) Graphic Design in the Crafts (Animation) – 15 Steps to Climate Cool category; Chloe Luxford from BA(Hons) Illustration in the Packaging Design – King Cobra category; Ric Hooley and Matt Harvey from PgDip Creative Advertising in the Advertising – Dove category; Ash Bibby and Frank Hersey from PgDip Creative Advertising in the Advertising – HIV category; Tom Green and Matt Harvey from PgDip Creative Advertising in the Advertising – Teen Road Safety category; Ric Hooley and Matt Harvey from PgDip Creative Advertising in the Advertising – Radio category; and fellow students, Vashti Hallissey and Frank Hersey in the same category.

The fact that Falmouth's Postgraduate Diploma in Creative Advertising fared so well was a cause for particular delight. "D&AD's Student Awards and accompanying New Blood exhibition is the UK's most influential and authoritative arena for creative talent in the fields of advertising and design," explained course leader Chris Waite. "2007 has been the most successful year ever for our course, with seven campaigns in total, originated by nine students, achieving success. Two further Falmouth teams - Jordan de Carli and Victoria Jagger, and Lawrence Collings and Tom Green also won D&AD Best New Blood awards for the work that they exhibited," Chris added. "This recognition sends a strong signal that at University College Falmouth we are encouraging our students to think in relevant, yet original ways."

University College Falmouth's Director of Marketing & Student Recruitment, Jeremy Whitaker, concluded: "This year's success marks another outstanding achievement for students and staff from Falmouth and reinforces the College's reputation as one of the foremost art, design and media institutions in the country."

University College Falmouth is a founding partner in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC), a unique initiative to promote regional economic regeneration through higher education. The CUC has been invested in mainly by the European Union (Objective One), the South West Regional Development Agency, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, with support from Cornwall County Council.

For further information about University College Falmouth, please visit www.falmouth.ac.uk.

For further information about D&AD, please visit www.dandad.org.

For further information contact Jilly Easterby, Head of Public Affairs, University College Falmouth on 01326 213792 or email jilly.easterby@falmouth.ac.uk.

The Objective One Programme for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has invested in the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) project, both Phase 1 and Phase 2, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF). University College Falmouth is a partner of the CUC.

Editor's notes:

Clare Morgan
Media Relations Manager
Objective One Partnership Office
Castle House
Pydar Street
Truro TR1 2UD
Mobile: 07973 813647
Telephone: 01872 223439

cmorgan@cornwall.gov.uk

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