TDK Awards '17

Alfred Hoi — @alfredahoy

Wellington, New Zealand

Massey University

Hannah & David’s Pick: Alfred’s folio demonstrated something of a rarity amongst submissions. That is, the ability to demonstrate high level conceptual thinking, combined with contemporary, high quality aesthetic output. Sharp, unflinchingly current, and extremely interesting.

Amélie Lehoux — @amelehoux

Montréal, Canada

Université du Québec à Montréal

Tad’s Pick: Many things drew me to Amelie’s work. The strong sense of whimsy, the unexpected color palettes and subtle yet well thought-out conceptual iconography in each piece. But what put this folio over the top for me was the designers willingness to explore and push various styles and mediums with such ease.

Artisa Tumiwa — @tigamatasapi

Jakarta, Indonesia

Swinburne University of Technology

Dem’s Pick: I’m impressed by Artisa’s approach to framing problems, taking a challenge-process-solution approach to describing work helps to contextualise the projects in this entry. It’s also great to see that the users are considered when designing the final solution.

Charlotte Taylor  — @charlottetaylr

London, United Kingdom

Goldsmiths University + Chelsea College of Arts

Will’s pick: Unlike anything else I saw while judging the other portfolios. A fine art practice with a design eye – the compositions and colour palettes work really well.

TDK Interview Coming Soon!

Dang Vo — @danyillustration

Montréal, Canada

Université du Québec à Montréal

Tad’s Pick: I will admit that I am a sucker for strong brand identity work especially when applied to food packaging. This designer’s folio has several successful examples of thoughtful identity systems and creative packaging solutions. Many of the designer’s projects stood out, but the ‘Ancobaleno” chocolate packaging and how it was ultimately presented really took this from a student portfolio to a professional one.

Daragh J Anderson — @daraghanderson

London, United Kingdom

Central Saint Martins UAL

Dem’s Pick: I found myself drawn to Daragh’s work on both a visual and a conceptual level. Each project seems to explore interesting and important topics while achieving an impressive level of refinement, tied together in a very well presented entry. I’m particularly impressed by the elegant response to the D&AD brief, which communicates a powerful message through an engaging medium.

Dominique Vine — @dominiquevinedesi

Melbourne, Australia

Monash University

Tad’s Pick: From the start I really responded to how the designer presented their work. Very simple, clean and straight forward. The decision to use black only enhanced their bold colors and strong typography choices. Several projects really stood out, but Dominique’s overall strength through-out the book was typography. From the ‘Dreams Archive’ project where we see the type heavily manipulated to the smart type pairings on the “Abbotsford Convent Identity” project, this designers understanding of type far exceeds expectations.

Gemma Mahoney — @gemmarmahoney

Melbourne, Australia

RMIT University

Hannah & David’s Pick: There was a lot of contemporary typography of a certain style, appealing, yes, but fundamentally similar. Gemma’s work goes a step further and as a result stood out to us. It is clearly work that is engaged and interested into current typography experimentation, but so too is it fearless in playing with pastiche and historical type, bringing it bang up to date with colour composition and application.

Ivo Pallucchini & José Bessega — @amateurdotrocks

Berlin, Germany

Escuela Relacional & Haus Escuela Visual

Will’s Pick: Great portfolio from start to finish. Nice typographic work throughout, feels very relevant to today.

Jen George — @jen_georgee

London, United Kingdom

The University of Leeds

Hannah & David’s Pick: Jen’s book has experimentation, interest, and yet an aesthetic and structural rigour that really appealed. The ‘Thames River Postman’ concept for the Royal Mail assignment really caught our eye – we’d love to see more!

TDK Interview Coming Soon!

Jenny Liu — @jen_iverse

Sydney, Australia

Billy Blue College of Design

Johan’s pick: Jenny combines a satyric approach with a search for simplicity that gives her work a mature and intelligent result. She understands the scope of the subjects she is dealing with, digs them out, and transmits a graphic material that seems to be aimed at the right target. Special mention for the handwritten typographies of the AGDA project.

Jeremy Hooper — @hoopergrafik

Wellington, New Zealand

Massey University

Will’s Pick: Consistency of work across digital and print and supported by great photography as well as the design.

TDK Interview Coming Soon!

Jing Ong — @jingw_ong

Brisbane, Australia

Shillington College

Johan’s pick: Lightweight, refreshing and poetic work, combined with impressive illustration work and a beautiful mastery of space. Jing particularly seduced me with her Joy Luck Club lettering, which is a real risk-taking and avoids the current fashion effects.

Kathleen Crosby — @thleen__

New York, USA

Shillington College

Johan’s pick: Kathleen shows interesting versatility and bravery that I want to salute! She tackles unusual subjects and her work is both controlled and relevant, with a touch of humour. I am sensitive to her storytelling skills through design and illustration and her abstraction.

Kiera Needham — @kieraneedhamdesign

Bristol, United Kingdom

Plymouth University

Dem’s Pick: Kiera’s work is a fantastic mix of playful and visually striking, with a diverse selection of projects. I was drawn in the by the adventurous exploration into visual communication and the insight into some of the process behind the projects.

Laura Wadley — @laura__wadley

Christchurch, New Zealand

Ara Institute of Canterbury

Justin & Steve’s Pick: Laura’s work is strong, concise, and well organized. When reviewing portfolios we’ll often notice that the layout and design of the portfolio gets overlooked. Laura’s book shows that she not only cares about the layout of the work being presented, but also the beauty in the work itself.

Leanne Gu — @leanne.xyz

Melbourne, Australia

Monash University

Matt & Tim’s Pick: Leanne, Leanne, Leanne. This is good stuff. It’s fun and intellectual – qualities rarely found in the same room together – and the kind of work which suggests a preternatural gift.

Madison Tierney — @madisontierney

Melbourne, Australia

RMIT University

Verònica’s Pick: Madison knows her style, it is strong and creates a trademark on her work. Experimental, hand made with a solid concept to support.

Manuely Avila — @manuelyavila

Melbourne, Australia

RMIT University

Matt & Tim’s Pick: It seems overly precocious that a person, like Manuely, has developed such a refined, sophisticated and considered sense of design so early in her career. But she has. So we nod our heads, smile, and clap with admiration.

May Kim — @guccimay

New York, USA

MICA: Maryland Institute College of Art

Matt & Tim’s Pick: It’s exciting to see design that’s rule-bending, energetic and a little barmy. Why? Because it points to new possibilities and a designer who isn’t worried about what silly old judgy people think.

Nam Huynh — @namhuin

Stuttgart, Germany

Stuttgart State Academy of Art and Design

James & Beth’s Pick: Contemporary, energised, fresh work. Ambitious and adventurous with medium and application. Great volume and high quality of work throughout. Interesting exploration of typography across the board and the Workpool project is excellent. We can feel Nam’s genuine hunger for design. We’ve featured Nam’s work annually in our International Poster Exhibition at Graphic Design Festival Scotland for the past few years. The poster included in the 2017 exhibition ‘Big Trouble in Little Europe’ is the perfect example of a poster which needs no typography and no accompanying information to communicate clearly, effectively, pack a punch but still have a hint of intrigue. Great work.

Nathan Holthus — @nathanholthus

Wichita, USA

McPherson College

Justin & Steve’s Pick: Nathan has a great understanding of branding and typography design. He’s doing what he loves and it really shows. At National Forest we’re big fans of the ‘Americana Style’ and blue-collar approach to Nathan’s work- his portfolio presents a lot of great branding and we’re looking forward to seeing what he explores next.

Nicola Householder — @nicolasage

San Francisco, USA

Pratt Institute

James & Beth’s Pick: Refreshingly playful work. We get a good vibe from Nicola and can feel her positivity and personality from her work. She feels like a Warrior! Endearing personal projects Prank Scouts and Bingo Cards are right up our street. Great ideas and playfully executed. Confident use of colour, illustration and a distinctive hands-on style which we think stand out and could be very successful commercially.

Ronnie Alley — @ronniealleydesign

Philadelphia, USA

Philadelphia University

Justin & Steve’s Pick: We really like Ronnie’s color sensibilities and minimal approach. His portfolio presents a range of styles while preserving his personal approach to design and illustration.

Samantha Allen — @samallendesigns

Melbourne, Australia

Monash University

Alberto’s Pick: Samantha is all about sophistication, attention to detail, exquisite editorial approach from concept, content, layout, typography, printing, use of materials and binding. She is a classic designer with a a surprisingly mature approach. Shows great sensitivity and respect for the work.

TDK Interview Coming Soon!

Samuel Forbes — @samuelthomasforbes

Wellington, New Zealand

Massey University

Alberto’s Pick: Samuel is really deep into trends and experimentation but also shows a very versatile portfolio. He takes good care in production process and experiments with print techniques. He also shows good layout composition skills, spontaneous handwritten intervention on designs and a very strong typographic palette. He has a strong character and definitely understands very well the rules of disruptive editorial design.

Shauna Buckley — @shauna.buckley

Dublin, Ireland

Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design & Technology (IADT)

Alberto’s Pick: She has a very clean yet strong editorial style, with good composition, very mature text treatment, but also with a very good use of of custom lettering. She also seeks for concept in her projects and focuses a lot on the quality of the content. Nothing is random or just pretty, she makes design with purpose.

Stefan Pelikan — @stefanpelikan

New York, USA

Penn State University

Verònica’s Pick: In Stefan’s portfolio there is a high quality in innovation and experimental way. I see a very defined style that I think is good, it empowers his work. He needs to improve this way and continue going further.

Thomas Hedger — @hedgerart

London, United Kingdom

Central Saint Martins UAL

Verònica’s pick: Of all the portfolios I saw focused on illustration – Thomas’s is a highlight. It’s strange to find an illustrator where all their styles are good. Obviously he knows the techniques and this helps him to go further and experiment in many styles.

Zoe Hu — @zoehudesign

Melbourne, Australia

Monash University

James & Beth’s Pick: Solid concepts resolved with strong and effective outputs throughout. Valuable skill set to bring to the studio: solid typography, good conceptual work, good motion graphics and illustration. Professional aesthetic sensibility. Mirror Mirror is a tight project with the full package. The interactivity is well considered and brings it to life. We’re always interested in designers responding to current affairs, so for us this was stand-out.