Thursday, 8 November 2012, marked the end of a memorable three years for the Programme of Interior Design’s class of 2012.

To celebrate this milestone and pay homage to the academic achievements of some of the students, the Programme hosted a prize giving ceremony at the Arthur Smith Hall, DUT City Campus. The function also included an exhibition of the students’ best three projects for the year at a separate venue.

The event was attended by the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Design Dr Kenneth Netshiombo, the Head of the Department of Visual Communication Design Piers Carey as well as the students’ parents. Prizes were presented to the top three achievers in each of the seven categories. The top achievers for the night were Melissa Jordan, who won first prize in three categories; namely Interior Design, Presentation Methods as well as Theory. Slindile Sibiya took first place for Office Design and Siyanda Mbele was awarded for designing the invitation of the event as well as for being the student with the Most Commendable Development in Design.

All winners received prizes sponsored by the DUT Interior Design Department, Black Coffee Design, Heathergate Trading as well as Spectrum Art and Office Supplies, among others.

Dr Netshiombo congratulated the class of 2012 on completing their diploma while also acknowledging the tireless efforts of the lecturers and the and sacrifices made by parents.

“You might not realise the value of your profession but interior design is a relevant field. It is universal; it goes beyond cities and provinces. I wish you well in your journey and God bless,” Dr Netshiombo said to the students. Sue Barrett who lectured the third-year class said she will miss this “fun bunch”. “They worked hard but also moaned about extensions,” she laughed. Most importantly, Barrett said she hopes the students will secure employment and realise their full potential as interior designers.
BTech Research Projects.

The event was combined with the 2012 Interior Design Bachelor of Technology programme exhibition as well as its prize giving ceremony. The exhibition featured research projects of the three students enrolled for the programme this year. Elaborating on the brief of the project, BTech coordinator Carolanda Du Toit said “students needed to prepare a full research project where they find a problem within the interior design field, come up with a research problem and a solution to that problem. They also learned about research methodology. They then needed to implement all this in practical form.” In addition, students needed to find an appropriate site and go on to design and improve the interior of the chosen site. But it’s all hypothetical, Du Toit clarified.

One of the projects included Angela Sagar’s research on revamping listed buildings. She drew her inspiration from adult shops and thus her design was centred on this theme. Sagar received an award for Second Overall Achievement in the BTech programme while Kelsey Sutton scooped the First Overall Achievement and Most Outstanding Portfolio awards.

–Naledi Hlefane
Pictured: Third-year Interior Design students who were awarded for academic excellence. From left: Slindile Sibiya; first place winner in the Office Design category, Shanna-Maye Boschoff; third place winner in the Presentation Methods as well as Office Design categories, Melissa Jordan; first prize winner in three categories; namely Interior Design, Presentation Methods and Theory, Sasha-Lee Buckle; third place winner in the Theory and Interior Design categories, Bianca Drews; who also won third place in the Theory and Interior Design categories; Lizelle Naude; second place winner in the Interior Design, Presentation Methods as well as Theory categories and Siyanda Mbele who was awarded for designing the invitation of the event as well as for being the student with the Most Commendable Development in Design.