Otago Polytechnic Students Win in National Design Awards

Otago Polytechnic students win in national design awards

Otago Polytechnic Design students have enjoyed success in this year’s prestigious national Best Design Awards.

The Awards, announced at a ceremony in Auckland on Friday 6 October, recognise excellence in graphic, spatial, product, interactive and motion design. The Best Awards are held annually to showcase the highlights of New Zealand design. They are judged by a jury of international design experts, and the very best piece of design in each discipline was given the supreme Purple Pin.

Otago Polytechnic students had two wins in the Product Design category. The silver went to ‘The Glo’, a high-tech children’s wheelchair, designed by Jeremy Metherell, Elizabeth Anderson, Steven Kulicke and Malwin Schloegel. Malwin, one of the international students, flew in from Germany for the awards, making the win even more special.

The Cactus Hammock (by Jeremy Metherell) won a bronze award in the student product category. The hammock, which embraced the Cactus Outdoor Supplies ethic of ‘simplicity, durability and function’ has proven to be a commercial success, and is now onto its third production run.

The Roller Derby zine series (by Lily Renwick) won a bronze award in the student Graphic design category.

Otago Polytechnic had a total of nine students named as finalists in this year’s Best Awards, including fourCommunication Design students in the Graphic Design category.

“We’re delighted at how well our Product and Communication Design students did at this year’s awards,” says Andrew Wallace, Product Design Lecturer at Otago Polytechnic. “They’ve got bright futures ahead of them. According to the2017 PWC report, Design is now earning more than Agriculture toward New Zealand’s GDP. It’s an exciting time to be launching a career in this industry.”

ENDS

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