The 'design' of the Construction New Media awards

The Construction New Media Awards turned five this year and since their birth in 2001, they have grown and evolved to find a place within the ever-changing New Media environment in South Africa.

This years' awards were presented in a feedback session at Thursday night's well-attended awards ceremony last week by UK judges: Simon Waterfall of Poke, Daljit Singh from Digit, Creative Review's editor, Patrick Burgoyne; and South Africa's Andries Odendaal.

Sub_Urban Magazine Vol 3 by Suburban won the Offline category outright with its ability to keep the judges attention throughout the 40-odd page digital publication. The judges had not seen a "page turning" device done so well before - it felt so much the physical act. This, and the vast array of music and video material literally kept them turning page, after page, after page! So impressive was this work that it won the Grand Prix and one member of the Suburban team will be flown to London to spend a week at Poke, www.pokelondon.co.uk.

The winner of the Online Self-promotion section was the fast-paced website boyBlack, www.boyblack.co.za. The judges loved the interaction and were surprised and thrilled to see low-level graphics being used in a site that never got tedious as there was so much to discover.

The judges were most impressed with the beautifully crafted and winning website, Nashua/SASI Swimwear 2004 - less means a lot more this summer, www.sasiswimwear.co.za, entered by Ripe Design into the Online Functional category. They kept wanting to explore more and more... Apparently this was not due to the subject matter - but because of how the content was presented! It is interesting to note that the Nashua/SASI Swimwear 2002 website was a finalist in 2003 too - so keep it up!

Pixel Project's quirky entry, Juju, www.juju.co.za, took top honours in the Online Non-functional category. Unusual animation and sound, that the judges had not come across before, made this site for a visual communications studio, thoroughly enjoyable.

The introduction of the new category Motion Graphics, caused a bit of controversy as the winning entry was the Construction New Media Awards Intro AV, which was produced in 2004 by Orijin New Media for last year's awards. The judges felt this noticeable piece of work deserved to win as its execution was utterly faultless would provide a benchmark for future entries.

As in previous years, the Student category was swamped with real talent and these awards have proved to be wonderful exposure for up-and-coming genii. Gordon Bakkes' gem, Portfolio 04, had a huge range of styles, incredible motion graphics and would have competed in the corporate section with ease. Employ him, if he has not been snapped up already!

Congratulations to all the winners and Happy 5th Birthday to the Construction New Media Awards.

Full List of results:

GRAND PRIX

Sub_Urban Magazine - Suburban

ONLINE - SELF PROMOTION

Winner
boyBlack - Boy Black, www.boyblack.co.za

Finalists
Peepshow - Fluorescence Media Design, www.peepshowtheband.co.za
Run-of-the-country - Six Million Dollar, www.sixmilliondollar.com/run-of-the-country
Soundlab - Soundlab, www.sound-lab.co.za

ONLINE FUNCTIONAL

Winner
Nashua/SASI Swimwear - Less means a lot more this summer - Ripe Design, www.sasiswimwear.co.za

Finalists
M&G Online's Interactive Guide to 2004 Elections - Mail & Guardian Online, www.dailymail.co.za/elections2004
Ashley Isham, London - Ukubona digital media, www.ashleyisham.com
Red Bull Big Wave Africa - Stonewall Productions, www.redbullbwa.com
Miller Genuine Draft Consumer Website - Stonewall Productions, www.millertime.co.za

ONLINE - NON-FUNCTIONAL

Winner
Juju Website - Pixel Project, www.juju.co.za

Finalists
none

OFFLINE

Winner
Sub_Urban Magazine - Suburban (GRAND PRIX WINNER)

Finalists
Nashua/SASI Swimwear 2004 - Ripe Design

MOTION GRAPHICS

Winner
CNMA Awards Intro AV 04 - Orijin New Media

Finalists
David Kramer Music Video - iaminawe
Nike vdj academy - Orijin New Media

ADS/PROMOTIONS

No awards awarded

NETWORKED EXE'S

No Awards awarded

STUDENT AWARD (Across all Categories):

Winner
Portfolio 04 - Gordon Bakkes

Finalists
Omakhelwane - Khayalethu Mtshali
Republik - Wiehan de Jager
Jake - Jake Brewer, www.jake.co.za
shaun - Shaun Lombard, www.conceptinteractive.net/2004/shaunL
Dotvision visual media design - Eddie Van Rensburg, www.dotvision.co.za

Construction New Media Awards

www.constructionaward.com

Design Indaba

www.designindaba.com