Using visual communication skills through graphics has earned DUT Graphic Design students Bradley Cuzen and Nicolene van der Vorst top-notch awards at the prestigious 2014 WorldStar Student Competition held in Brazil last year (2014).
The World Packaging Organisation’s (WPO) WorldStar Student Awards is an international packaging design and technology competition for students from countries around the world to develop projects in the field of packaging design.
Cuzen, now a Graphic Design BTech student in the Visual Communication Department at DUT, was awarded one of the three ‘Worldstar Student Winner’ awards – the top possible award to win in this international competition.
Van der Vorst, also a BTech student this year (2015), achieved a Certificate of Merit award at the competition.
Earlier in the year (2014), Cuzen had also entered the Gold Pack Awards competition and walked away as the overall winner of the Graphic Design Award. The Gold Pack Awards were put in place to improve the overall design of South African packaging to allow the country to compete with sophisticated foreign packaging on the home and in the export markets. Students from the DUT Graphic Design Department have won both competitions for two consecutive years now.
When asked about how he felt upon winning such an accolade, Cuzen said he was more than elated. “I was extremely surprised that I was chosen as one of the winners. I thought my trip to Cape Town for the Student Goldpack Awards would be conclusion to all the good news,” he chuckled. His design was based on how vitally important oil is for your engine. “It is the blood that flows through the engine of your car, hence the title of the brand Type O. The design was inspired by medical blood bags, using similar characteristics such as shape and type layout for the packaging design,” he said.
Ernest van der Merwe, Head of Department: Visual Communication Design at DUT, had a feeling that Cuzen would do well. “He came about with a really unique concept with the motor oil design. As a department, we knew he was going to do very well. Since we have started entering these two competitions from last year, we have won it two years in a row. The lecturers have outdone themselves again this year,” he said.
Cuzen definitely believes entering and being exposed to such competitions is beneficial. “It opens your eyes in terms of what’s happening around you and what’s good and bad, visually and conceptually,” he said. The talented graphic design student credits DUT and his lecturers for their invaluable support. “I am very proud of DUT, I feel confident in saying that its graphic design department is the best in South Africa,” he said.
Cuzen, who hopes to work abroad to grow his creativity and craft beautiful work, is currently working for Modern Museum, a Durban based design agency. The Institute of Packaging South Africa (IPSA) is currently working towards raising sponsorship for Cuzen to attend the awards ceremony in Milan this year.
Van der Vorst’s packaging choice was a sports drink. “This product is eco-friendly, practical, natural preserver with flat pack functionality designed with aesthetic qualities to attract and intrigue potential clients. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this project as well as plenty of motivation, inspiration and enthusiasm from the DUT lecturers who really aided me and boosted my confidence in pushing myself to my design goal for this competition,” she said.
Giving advice to first-year DUT Graphic Design students who will also in time enter such competitions, she said one should always give it their best. “Be humble and learn to take criticism and transform it for the better. Do not compare yourself to others. It is your difference in design that the world lacks and need to witness,” she said.
Her goal is to go to Cape Town after completing her BTech studies and gain experience.
– Waheeda Peters
Pictured: (Main) Bradley Cuzen with his award-winning design called Type O.
Merit award winner, Nicolene van der Vorst and her sports drink design.
