Student designers sweep regional competition

"A great bunch of student designers!" said Professor Jan Conradi. From left to right are Shinji Matsuyama, David Raymond, Michael Little (front), Steven Nguyen, Benjamin Gardner.

Graphic Design students at SUNY Fredonia won five of the six awards in this years Don Nichols Scholarship Competition.

Working with Design Professors Jan Conradi and Don Kline, the five winners created works that explored the communicative potential of maps, diagrams, and quantifiable information.

• GOLD $1,000
  Stephen Nguyen from Campbell, NY 
• SILVER $500
  Benjamin Gardner from East Aurora, NY 
• BRONZE $300
  Michael Little from Portville, NY 
• HONORABLE MENTION
  David Raymond from Fredonia, NY
• HONORABLE MENTION
  Shinji Matsuyama from Kitakatsuragi, Japan 

Nguyens Gold Award entry was a book mapping the story of his father, a member of the South Vietnamese Navy who was resettled in the United States upon the evacuation of Saigon. Gardner designed a poster sharing statistics about Japanese whaling while Little developed a website and companion poster to promote AIDS Awareness and Education. Raymonds work was more personal; he designed a poster describing his life journey through adversity and success. Matsuyama created a book as a light-hearted exploration of the contagious spread of laughter.

"It is invigorating to see the ingenuity and originality that our students bring to problem-solving," said Don Kline, Visiting Assistant Professor of Graphic Design. "The work submitted from Fredonia is worthy of broader recognition. These students understand how to employ design principles and process and that understanding will lead them to success as professional designers."

The award is given each year in honor of Don Nichols, a life-long design educator at UB and the Albright Art School. Undergraduates attending Western New York two- and four-year colleges are eligible to receive prizes by developing works related to each years competition theme.

The judges for this years competition were from Crowley Webb and Associates: Katie Hazel, Art Director; Pete Reiling, Senior Interactive Art Director; and Matt Low, Copy Supervisor. All winning entries will be exhibited at the Annual Western New York Awards For Creative Excellence and featured in an upcoming issue of The Creative Communicator.

The award is administered by the Advertising Club of Buffalo.