Vega Octant 2018 octant_sem1_2018 FV_sml | Page 18

Returning to the Bookmark Awards, The IIE Vega graduates, Saraah Saint (Visual Communication) and Jessica Hay (Creative Brand Communication) were awarded a coveted Black Pixel award in the ‘Best Digital Student’ sub-category. This is the second year in a row that students from Vega have walked away with this accolade. Saint and Hay, who both completed their studies at The IIE’s Vega, submitted their campaign, “Who Wore it Best?” to the awards, which also earned them a D&AD Pencil Award in the ‘New Blood’ category last year. “After conducting a great deal of research into anti-fur campaigns of the past, we found that the ‘blood and gore’ approach proved ineffective when it came to getting people to appreciate the message behind the campaign and take it seriously,” says Saint. “We engaged with our navigators, who guided us through the technical process of executing the project and bringing our ideas to life,” added Hay. Saint and Hay’s campaign focused on the role that celebrities play in the fashion world by endorsing fur and encouraging its desirability as a high-end fashion item. A striking feature of the campaign is how Saint and Hay showcase the stark contrast between animals and humans and illustrate this by using the animals to take over the fashion industry as the ones who actually wear fur the best. The campaign included a series of magazine covers and print ads featuring side-by-side images of celebrities dressed in fur and an animal that the fur the garment was made from, with the heading, “B*** Stole My Look!”. The team also created a Facebook voting poll for social media users to vote to decide who wears fur better – celebs or animals – along with an online anti-fur pledge form for people to sign. Included in the social media visual content was a series of beautifully-designed “Flash Fur” fashion show posters. “The Bookmark Awards is such a prestigious platform in South Africa and around the world, and to be recognised for our work – for a second year in a row – is an amazing and truly rewarding feeling,” says the duo. “Once again, we have to give a great big thank you to our wonderful and committed navigators for all their guidance and support, as well as Vega for creating an environment that allows us to flourish and express ourselves every day.” The IIE’s Vega campuses across the country are buzzing with excitement after four students were recognised in the WPO International Packaging Design Student Competition, a global platform open exclusively to students who have won awards for packaging design in their home countries. We congratulate our students and their navigators for receiving top honours, as the only South African tertiary institution to be recognised in the 2017 international WPO competition. Eliana Raff and Page Lotze received a WorldStar Student Certificate of Merit for their joint project, “Ripe Time, Ripe Place”. Casey Ogilvie and Jason Walden each received a WorldStar Certificate of Recognition for their packaging submissions for Bakers Eet-Sum-Mor Biscuits and Ensure. These students were included in Vega’s 2017 entries for the local IPSA Goldpack Awards, and were entered into the WPO International Packaging Design Student Competition. “We are so proud of all our students whose work made it to such a prestigious and globally-recognised platform,” says Ria van Zyl, Academic Navigator at Vega. “This achievement is particularly special for both the school and the students as it is the first time Vega has been recognised in these awards.”