USC Design student wins national award

University of the Sunshine Coast Design student Jaclyn Crane has won a highly competitive national student design award with her striking entry Remember Fukushima.
The competition brief was to design a cover for an imaginary issue of the esteemed design industry publication, DG Magazine, with the theme “Famous Designers”.

Jaclyn chose to emulate the style of Shepard Fairey, the American artist best known for his pop art depiction of US President Barack Obama in the now famous Hope poster. Jaclyn’s original artwork was inspired by a photograph of a person protesting the Fukushima disaster.
The judges’ citation for Jaclyn’s design read: “A compelling composition that reflects the style of Shepard Fairey but with a significant contribution in content and message from the designer. It looks confident, complete and dares us to look inside. Excellent work.”
Jaclyn is a Beerwah State High School graduate and is in her third year of a Bachelor of Design and Communication, majoring in Graphic Design. She said it was thrilling to win this award.
“It’s a great feeling to have my work recognised and awarded, especially since the design is the kind of work I hope to do in the future – book covers, CDs and posters,” she said. “It makes me feel good about my ability as a designer and is a bit of a confidence booster.”
Jaclyn said she chose to study Design at USC because of the course content and its focus on practical work, especially the internship and portfolio classes. She now has a national design award to add to her portfolio.
Lecturer in Computer-based Digital Design Dr Debra Livingston said she was delighted with Jaclyn’s award win.
“It will be showcased to the world on the DG Network website which will place the USC Design program and its lecturers as leaders of their field and put one of the most dynamic and creative undergraduate courses on the map,” she said.
Four of Jaclyn’s USC classmates – Katre Tattar, Stephanie Marshall, Amanda Bassett and Jazlyn Craig – received Highly Commended awards in the same competition.