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Graduates and students among the BeST for 2010

Sunday 3 October 2010, 9:06AM

By Massey University

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Nick Eaton's snowboard boot design.
Nick Eaton's snowboard boot design. Credit: Massey University
Examples of Tomas Cottle's faux horror film posters.
Examples of Tomas Cottle's faux horror film posters. Credit: Massey University

AUCKLAND

College of Creative Arts students and graduates have won 11 gold pins in this year's Designers Institute BeST Design Awards.

A snowboarder’s boot, illuminated faux horror film posters and a commemorative tribute book are among the projects to receive gold awards, in which 33 of the 48 student design finalists were from Massey.

The awards, presented at the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland last night, recognise New Zealand’s best graphic, interactive, product and spatial design.

Past and present Massey students also collected 11 silver and nine bronze awards.

The gold winners included product design graduate Nick Eaton, whose practical yet aesthetically pleasing design of snowboard boot called duotrek combines elements of mountaineering as well as snowboarding for adventure seeking backcountry alpine explorers.

Graphic design graduate Tomas Cottle explored the concept of irrational fear with his collection of faux horror film posters, which are mounted in antique illuminated poster cabinets.

While Sarah Ny, who was also a gold winner for graphic design, produced a 120-page book Cab 83, which is a commemorative tribute to her father, one of New Zealand’s first Cambodian taxi drivers, and the taxi where the book can be found and read.

Other gold award winners were Tessa Gourley (graphic design), Amber Jean Hornsby (graphic), Sabrina Malcolm (graphic), Tanya Marriott (interactive design), Kyle Labad (interactive), Amy Millar (spatial design) Emma Jepson (spatial), Aidan Turvey (graphic) .

Institute chief executive Cathy Veninga says the University is “one of the country’s top incubators” for New Zealand design, which also produced some of the country’s most talented students. “These students represent New Zealand’s design future, and I’m happy to say that based on the sort of work that these students are producing, that our design future looks to be in safe hands.”

Associate Professor Chris Bennewith, who heads the college's Institute for Communication Design, says the number of awards speaks volumes for the high regard in which its students are held. “An accolade like this puts a young designer's name up in lights, and often attracts industry attention that can lead to jobs and other opportunities."