The One Academy Students Outshine in International Creativity Competition

Students from advertising faculty of The One Academy garnered Gold Award and Honourable Mention in the acclaimed Creativity International Award 2013 organised by Art Direction Magazine, USA. Celebrated as one of the longest running, independent design competition since 1970; this competition has attracted over 1200 entries worldwide and is well known for its display of outstanding creativity as well as design works.

Partaking in such an international competition for the very first time was an unforgettable experience for both Victor Chandra and Tee Sher Min as it took them 3 months’ time to complete their artworks which were then submitted under the category of corporate identity manual.

Apart from the usual brainstorming session, online research and reference to seniors’ artwork, both students carried out field visits to have better understanding of the concept and design that best fit the clients’ needs. “I've done numerous research and visitations to hospitals to get a clearer picture of what kind of art gallery that suits the environment before idea and concept development,” highlighted Victor, the Gold Award winner who developed identity manual for an art gallery located in a hospital.

Taking part in the competition has enabled both winners to apply what they have learnt in classes e.g. the concept of design interaction into good use. “I’ve created this simulation effect of eye conditions like cataract and glaucoma in my manual by inserting a few pieces of grey coloured transparency papers with abnormal visual patterns over some images so that readers could relate better thus understand the kinds of vision difficulties faced by individuals with eye related conditions,” quipped Sher Min, the Honourable Mention winner who came up with identity manual for Save One’s Sight Missions (SOSM), a non-profit which advocates blindness prevention.

Nurturing talents through practical coaching approach and inculcation of critical thinking is at the heart of what The One Academy does. Participating in the competition has indeed been an eye opener experience for both winners as they have the opportunity to design visual identity from the organisation’s logo, poster till envelope cover. “I’ve chosen dark blue as the corporate colour for SOSM because it signifies stability and invokes calmness,” commented Sher Min.

Time constraint was the main issue faced by both winners as they need to juggle between school works while focusing in completing the corporate identity manuals. In addition, minor shortcoming in terms of typeface design was encountered by one of the winner. “I‘ve changed typeface design of the manual few times to make it look more subtle in order to blend in well with the corporate image client wants to portray,” Sher Min added.

When being asked on what advice they would dispense to fellow college mates, Victor said “Enjoy what you do and have confidence in your work because taking part in competition is a great way to experiment, gain experience and to challenge yourself!” Besides, both winners would also like to express appreciation to their lecturer Mr Lew Tau Fei for his guidance and continuous support.