On Thursday, April 18, 2013, the 24th Class of the Digital Design program had their Graduation moment and then celebrated each other’s accomplishments at the Award Show.

The evening started off with Digital Design’s Program Manager Lizzie Hudson who introduced our host for the evening, Digital Design’s Head of Department, Miles Nurse.

Miles thanked the families for their support, which the students definitely appreciate and need during the rather intense year-long program. He thanked the students for their professionalism, for their endurance and fierce dedication. And he reminded them of their incredible achievement during the program. He asked them to reflect on how much they had actually produced during this time, and reminded them of what a great opportunity it was for them to be that creative — producing more work in one year than a lot of professionals manage over the course of their careers. He also reminded them of some of the fun that was had, and pointed out the importance of embracing failure, of failing often and moving on. He said that VFS doesn’t change who you are, rather, it shows you what is possible — what you are capable of.

Miles then introduced Program Management instructor Louise Lee. Louise was chosen by the students to give the commencement speech to them. Louise gave a heartfelt and humorous speech, addressing each of the 14 students in turn, recognizing what they brought to the year, and how they themselves had personally and professional developed. While she did so, she kept this rather hilarious photo (taken by Danny Chan, of course) in view for the audience.

Miles then returned to introduce the two students chosen to give their speech to their fellow graduates, recapping the year they’d all just gone through, and offering some student perspectives on their experience of the different aspects of Digital Design.

Kevin Hubbard and Robert Huynh gave a presentation to their peers that was funny and an affectionate tribute, with some great photos and a hilarious video at the end. It was set up as “their revenge” — but it was clear from the sentiment that there was a great deal of admiration projected towards their fellow students. Many graduating students say that one of the best things about the program is, apart from the inspiration and influence of working closely with industry mentors and instructors, are the friendships and collaborative relationships they form with their peers, which are deep and long lasting. They’ve all been through something together that they never forget.

Then came the proud moment when all the students from Class 24 stepped up to recieve their diplomas, shake hands with Miles (and some hugs) and have their pictures taken by VFS Media Specialist Danny Chan, who takes most of the great photographs you see here on OOMPH!

But just before they were quite done, a few were held back for a moment. “Oh no,” Stephanie Bailis said afterwards, “I thought something was wrong.” But no, she was wrong, everything was quite alright, because she and five other students were about to be recognized as honour students. Congratulations to the Digital Design’s 24th Graduating Honours Students: Stephanie Bailis, Bhoomika Dutta, Francois Gauthier, Robert Huynh, Vivi Prasetia and Michael Stevenson !

Congratulations to all the graduates of Digital Design’s 24th Class, we look forward to hearing about your adventures and successes as the future of design in the industry!

After a brief break where the students’ families could take pictures and beam with pride, we returned to the main VFS Theatre for the Graduation Awards Show.

Here are the awards and their winners in the order that they were presented:

Best Communication Design – Presented by Danny Chan & Myron Campbell

Nominees:

• Moat Estates - Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock
• House_of_Maivan - Robert Huynh
• Hunter and Gather – Michael Stevenson
• Eat SUM – Vivi Prasetia
• Silver Ace - Kevin Hubbard

Winner : Eat SUM - Vivi Prasetia

Best Motion Design – Presented by Kyle Norby & Danny Chan

Nominees:

• Double Bluff - Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock
• Nocturne - Robert Huynh
• Planeterra - Stephanie Bailis
• Wicca – Cristina Bucardo
• Silent Forest – Stephanie Bailis & Robert Huynh
• The Loop - Mehdi Nowroozi
• The Spins – Michael Stevenson

Winner: Silent Forest - Stephanie Bailis & Robert Huynh

Excellence in Instruction - Presented by Stephanie Bailis & Francois Gauthier

Nominees:

• Louise Lee
• Kyle Norby
• Gerard Barcelon
• Kai Pedersen
• Myron Campbell

Winner: Louise Lee

Best Interactive Design - Presented by Gerard Barcelon & Brett Forsyth

Nominees:

• Memo Hotel – Michael Qin
• Same Old Apparel – Michael Stevenson
• Razor Dragons - Michael Qin
• Scoop - Vivi Prasetia

Winner: Razor Dragons - Michael Qin

Technical Achievement – Motion Design - Presented  by Thomas McKeen & Nida Khan

Nominees:

• Mimeo Title Sequence - Francois Gauthier
• SciCon – Simbba Sim
• UGMA - Francois Gauthier
• HeightEye - Grigor Cheitanov

Winner: UGMA - Francois Gauthier

Designer in a Supporting Role - Presented by Gary Duong & Kevin Hubbard

Nominees:

• Bhoomika Dutta
• Grigor Cheitanov
• Robert Huynh
• Simbba Sim
• Vivi Prasetia

Winner: Robert Huynh

Best User Experience Design - Presented by Brett Forsyth & Stephanie Wu

Nominees:

• Hillseeker - Michael Stevenson
• Booku - Vivi Prasetia
• Furever - Bhoomika Dutta
• Team RGB for the Bugs Needs Drugs Campaign – Robert Huynh, Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock, Mehdi Nowroozi & Simbba Sim

Winner: Hillseeker - Michael Stevenson

School Spirit Award – Presented by Lizzie Hudson

Winner: Stephanie Bailis

Best Course - Presented by Michael Stevenson & Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock

Nominees:

• What’s the Big Idea – Gagan Diesh & Tiffany Hamilton
• Motion 4 – Kyle Norby
• Gamification – Miles Nurse
• 3D2 – Nida Khan

Winner: Motion 4 - Kyle Norby

Best Team Project - Presented by Louise Lee & Brett Forsyth

Nominees:

• Team Click – Pass it Forward – Kindness Concert – Bhoomika Dutta, Grigor Cheitanov, Vivi Prasetia, Michael Qin
• Team RGB for the Bugs Needs Drugs Campaign – Robert Huynh, Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock, Mehdi Nowroozi & Simbba Sim
• Team Elements – Bugs Need Drugs Campaign – Cristina Bucardo, Francois Gauthier, Stephanie Bailis, Kevin Hubbard
• Pixelators – User Experience 1 -  Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock • Francois Gauthier • Bhoomika Dutta • Michael Qin • Grigor Cheitanov • Robert Huynh
• User Experience Team 1 –  Stephanie Bailis, Cristina Bucardo, Skylar Lange, Mehdi Nowroozi, Simbba Sim

Winner: Team Click - Pass it Forward - Kindness Concert - Bhoomika Dutta, Grigor Cheitanov, Vivi Prasetia, Michael Qin

Faculty Rockstar - Presented by Mehdi Nowroozi & Grigor Cheitanov

Nominees:

• Danny Chan
• Thomas Mckeen
• Darren McQuaid
• Stephanie Wu

Winner: Danny Chan AND Thomas Mckeen

Best Graduate Project – presented by Miles Nurse

Nominees:

• Planeterra, Stephanie Bailis (Mentor Kai Pedersen)
• Hillseeker, Michael Stevenson (Mentor Carter Gilchrist)
• Furever, Bhoomika Dutta (Mentor Ellie Moon)
• Booku, Vivi Prasetia (Mentor Myron Campbell)

Winner: Booku, Vivi Prasetia (Mentor Myron Campbell)

Outstanding Achievement - Presented by Myron Campbell

Winner: Larissa Lo An Hsia Wilcock

Best Portfolio - Presented by Myron Campbell & Miles Nurse

Nominees:

• Vivi Prasetia
• Stephanie Bailis
• Robert Huynh
• Simbba Sim
• Michael Stevenson

Winner: Vivi Prasetia

Be sure to check out our Appetizers post for Digital Design’s 24th class for links to all the students’ portfolios.

Congratutions to everybody — We will miss you! Please keep us updated about your adventures in the wonderful world of Digital Design!