Strong industry turnout for Ara Visual Communications showcase

Sixty industry guests were among those at an Ara Institute of Canterbury exhibition this week, to view the final projects of this year's Bachelor of Design (Visual Communications) ākonga.

The graduate Pitch event showcased more than forty third year Visual Communication Design projects and saw the presentation of excellence awards for the cohort. It also gave students the opportunity to pitch their design ideas to the industry experts in the room.

“Our students are stepping into a creative industry, but they also need the skills of a creative director, salesperson or coach. They need to have the ability to encourage clients to take on design ideas,” Programme Co-Lead Carl Pavletich said.

A new speed networking element of the showcase provided students with an opportunity to test those skills as they discussed their work with leading industry professionals - several of whom are offering student internships.

Pavletich said a new industry advisory group (IAG) working behind the scenes to “unpick the future of the industry” and contribute to improvements to the visual communications degree had also supported the event.

_{Industry advisory group pictured left to right: Kathryn McCully, Mark Bridgewater, Jayde Drumm, Graydon Pieterse, Carl Pavletich, Chris Flack, Charlotte Sowman. Not Present: Gail Anderson, Henriette Nass, Alaina Rhind}

"These stronger ties with our industry partners are creating more opportunities for our students. It’s seen the turnout to this industry evening double and a renewed commitment from studios and businesses to collectively improve the employability of our students.”

Pavletich said the IAG will be fundamental to programme review and development over the next two years.

Ara’s manager of Art and Design, Kathryn McCully, said it was positive seeing so many industry guests at the Pitch event.

“We are in vocational education and this programme is designed to help transition learners into work. Through strong industry partnerships we maintain currency and relevance, but it also opens up opportunities for work experience and internships,” she said.

McCully encouraged the 2024 graduating cohort to talk through their work and their aspirations with confidence.

“Our partners want to see the design industry thrive and they want our students to be part of that,” she said.

_{Final project winners Nicole Paulin and Joey Charles}

Academic achievement awards from the Noeline McIlroy Bequest Fund went to Pim van Duin and Jessica Cluelee. Awards recognising academic excellence and final projects went to Joey Charles and Nicole Paulin.

Paulin’s drew on her Filipino heritage to create a board game “Kaon Ta!” which sought to inspire young Pinoy children to embrace their first culture and bond with their peers through the celebration of Filipino food.

“I wanted to share the message with young Filipino children living in Aotearoa that you don’t have to be shy about bringing your own cultural food and games to the fore,” she said.

Charles drew on his own experience with apraxia, a speech a condition which means the brain struggles with the motor skills needed for speaking. He created a set of diacritic symbols called ‘Impeds’ to represent individual speech impediments in writing.

“Kind of like a macron, they enable writers to express lisps, stutters and other speech patterns and therefore help normalise these mannerisms and build confidence in speech-impaired people,” Charles said.

He said he hoped to continue to pursue his “passion project”. “Impeds are perfect for making initial connections on LinkedIn, Instagram or maybe even Tinder enabling you to reply proudly as the most authentic version of yourself.”

Something every designer in the room sought to do at the annual Pitch showcase.