The Adobe Awards is highly coveted, fiercely contested and universally regarded as one of the best platforms to launch the careers of talented young designers.
Of the 21 students, 15 of those are enrolled at the Independent Institute of Education’s Vega campuses across the country. They are Stacy Barlow, Ali Bester, Jenna Emilie Busse, Peyton Butler, Ryan Goutier, Keegan Harbour, Lincoln Inc, Meera Karsan, Kirsten Lee, Zainab Mitha, Mario Nobrega, Saskia Sevenster, Connor Smith, James Strauss and Bianka Wessels.
The six other shortlisted candidates are Lucia Petschnig, Carel Pretorius, Cole Ndelu and Peter Assenga from the Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography; PD van der Westhuizen from the University of Pretoria and Kayleigh Garrett from the Red & Yellow School of Logic and Magic.
“Winning awards and achieving 15 semi-finalists in this contest of this calibre is fantastic news, and a great achievement for each of them," says Shevon Lurie, Managing Director at Vega. "However, as wonderful, and satisfying, is re-affirming that our standards here in South Africa hold their own against global standards of excellence.”
Now in its 16th year, the ADAA is open to student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from selected higher education institutions. Competition is intense and last year the judges reviewed more than 600 semi-finalists from 37 countries and 171 institutions to short-list only 42 finalists.
Entries (that need to have been created with the application of Adobe products) are judged by a field of 11 of the world’s top designers. There are but three criteria by which work is evaluated: effectiveness in meeting a communication objective; project originality; and creative excellence.
The prizes are significant: mentorship by global design luminaries; detailed and constructive feedback on portfolios of work; career boot camps; covetable internships, and an unforgettable trip to San Diego to attend Adobe MAX 2016.
For more information on the awards and the view the entries, visit www.adobeawards.com/us.
