IDEA students win in Brand Identity and Print Design at 2018 GDC/BC Salazar Student Awards

The Salazar Awards, presented by GDC/BC and founding sponsor Metropolitan Fine Printers, awards prizes to talented and inspiring students currently enrolled in design programs in BC.

Congratulations to Capilano University’s IDEA School of Design students for their wins in Brand Identity and Print Design at the 2018 GDC/BC Salazar Student Awards.

Alice Zeng (IDEA18) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Winner, Brand Identity

City of Valencia Rebrand

Alice’s branding project for the city of Valencia won in the Brand Identity category. Valencia is a city located on the southeastern coast of Spain, and it is the third-largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. Alice’s take on the new identity focuses on taking Valencia’s unique personality and energy and bringing it to life—the Valencia way. It is a celebration of Valencia’s voice and embodiment of the city’s raw emerge.

Alice Zeng (IDEA18) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Winner, Brand Identity

City of Valencia Rebrand

Alice’s branding project for the city of Valencia won in the Brand Identity category. Valencia is a city located on the southeastern coast of Spain, and it is the third-largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. Alice’s take on the new identity focuses on taking Valencia’s unique personality and energy and bringing it to life—the Valencia way. It is a celebration of Valencia’s voice and embodiment of the city’s raw emerge.

Ata Ojani (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Finalist, Brand Identity

Qmunity Building Campaign

A multi-platform campaign to promote QMUNITY, a queer resource centre. The campaign involves LGBTQ2S individuals sharing their stories through social media. By giving the disenfranchised a platform to help reach the closeted and others having a hard time – queer folk who feel lonely or vulnerable have a database of stories to read through and know they are not alone and that things do get better.

Ata Ojani (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Finalist, Brand Identity

Qmunity Building Campaign

A multi-platform campaign to promote QMUNITY, a queer resource centre. The campaign involves LGBTQ2S individuals sharing their stories through social media. By giving the disenfranchised a platform to help reach the closeted and others having a hard time – queer folk who feel lonely or vulnerable have a database of stories to read through and know they are not alone and that things do get better.

Ata Ojani (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Finalist, Brand Identity

Qmunity Building Campaign

A multi-platform campaign to promote QMUNITY, a queer resource centre. The campaign involves LGBTQ2S individuals sharing their stories through social media. By giving the disenfranchised a platform to help reach the closeted and others having a hard time – queer folk who feel lonely or vulnerable have a database of stories to read through and know they are not alone and that things do get better.

Pamella Pinard (IDEA18) — Finalist, Print Design

Rhyme & Reason Lyric Festival branding and posters
The Rhyme & Reason Lyric Festival is an orchestration of artists who create poetically driven music that verges on spoken word. The festival promotes these personal encounters with song and lyric to create a space to celebrate this place where within where music comes from.

Pamella Pinard (IDEA18) — Finalist, Print Design

Rhyme & Reason Lyric Festival branding and posters
The Rhyme & Reason Lyric Festival is an orchestration of artists who create poetically driven music that verges on spoken word. The festival promotes these personal encounters with song and lyric to create a space to celebrate this place where within where music comes from.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

The deliverable for this project was a printed annual report for C.F. Martin & Co., a guitar manufacturing company that has been creating instruments for over 180 years and is known for their tradition of quality. My goal was to create a design that felt timeless, elegant, and original.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

While history and tradition are central to the company’s identity it is their ability to constantly innovate which allows them to remain a leader in the guitar manufacturing industry. Furthermore, current Martin guitars are made by blending old techniques with modern innovations. Thus I sought to capture Martin’s rich history while simultaneously making the report feel contemporary and fresh.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

As a result, I chose fonts which felt clean and modern, but also included a serif font for quotes and details to maintain a bit of a traditional feel. The layout itself is classic and clean also playing into the timeless aesthetic. I chose to include wood textures and full bleed images throughout.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

By keeping the images sepia and black and white I was able to make the book look classic and historical without making it feel dated. Furthermore, the images, many of which are close ups, showcase the beautiful detail and craftsmanship of the Martin product.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

Finally, C.F. Martin and Co. are largely known for their acoustic guitars. Thus I decided to base my design on the motif of an acoustic guitar. I used di-cuts to mimic sound holes as well as parallel horizontal lines to imitate guitar strings. The horizontal lines help to create consistency tying the design together by leading from one page to another.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

Meanwhile the di-cuts help to reinforce the tactile and sculptural nature of guitar-making but also add an element of surprise and originality that makes the otherwise minimal report memorable and engaging for the reader.

Heather Haughn (IDEA20) — GDC BC Salazar Awards 2018 Honorable Mention, Print Design

C.F. Martin and Co. is a guitar manufacturing company known for their acoustic guitars. Thus I based my design on the motif of an acoustic guitar. The use of di-cuts reinforce the tactile and sculptural nature of guitar-making but also add an element of surprise and originality that makes the otherwise minimal report memorable and engaging for the reader. The use of close up images showcase the beautiful detail and craftsmanship of the Martin product.

A cash prize of $500 along with a GDC/BC Salazar Certificate was awarded to one student from each category. Winners and Honourable Mentions are recognized at the Salazar Awards Evening. They are also featured in the Salazar Awards Show and appear in GDC publications and the GDC newsletter which is distributed to design firms and advertising agencies nationally.

For more information, see GDC National Scholarships.

About GDC/BC Salazar Student Awards

The GDC/BC Salazar Student Awards, established in 1985 by the British Columbia Mainland Chapter of The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada, were created in honour of Enrique Salazar. Mr. Salazar was one of the founding members of the society and the national representative for the BC chapter for two years. He was a partner in Salazar Graphics, and taught graphic design at Capilano College (now Capilano University) until his death in June of 1985.