4-23-09

Contacts:
Derek Hunt, Senior, Graphic Design, (563) 599-4033, dhunt@iastate.edu
Robin Wasteney, Art Directors Association of Iowa, (515) 244-4133, robin@coopersmithco.com
Heather Sauer, College of Design communications, (515) 294-9289, hsauer@iastate.edu
Anne Kassel, College of Design communications, (515) 294-6881, akassel@iastate.edu

ISU students take top honors in ADAI Student Design Exhibition

AMES, Iowa -- Iowa State University graphic design students took top honors, including Best of Show, in the Art Directors Association of Iowa (ADAI) 2009 Student Design Exhibition.

Of a total 81 entries by 57 students accepted into the show, more than half -- 49 entries by 31 students -- were from the ISU College of Design.

Derek Hunt, a senior in graphic design from Dubuque, won three Best of Category awards -- one in the identity development category and two in the collateral category -- which led him to receive the overall Best of Show honor.

Other Iowa State students who won Best of Category awards included the team of Carolyn Egan of Dubuque, Ashton Jacobson of Webster City and Amber Loerzel of Davenport for identity development; Becky Murphy, Central City, for traditional illustration; Allison Connell, Pine Springs, Minn., for digital illustration; Robert Schellenberg, Fox River Grove, Ill., for editorial campaign; Ying Ying Liu, Ames, for poster; Nate Luetkehans, Waterloo, for packaging, and Calley Roberts, Bettendorf, for environmental design.

The ADAI exhibition is held annually in Des Moines as a way to recognize outstanding artwork completed by students from colleges and universities in Iowa. Iowa State students regularly submit work and consistently earn top recognition. This year, a panel of three judges from local design and marketing firms reviewed more than 400 entries to select the 81 for the show.

"Participation in the ADAI exhibition gives students an opportunity to see where they excel and where they may need to improve in the eyes of professional judges," said Robin Wasteney, ADAI vice president for the student exhibition.

"The artwork was impressive this year," Wasteney said. "The judges commented positively on several students' ability to carry out an identity above and beyond what they expect to see in student work."

Hunt chose several pieces from his senior studio coursework in Rome, Italy, to enter into the competition. While studying in Rome last fall, Hunt chose a historical area known as Piazza della Bocca della Verita near the Tiber River to use as the "client" for his project. He developed a design system including a logo, stationery, signage and a visitor's guide map to expand the site branding of his project.

"My project, Verita identity system, relied heavily on researching the specific site," Hunt said. "I did a great deal of photographing, sketching and writing on site. Through talking with my professors I was able to come up with a design solution for my area, which involved creating a set of shapes that formed an identity for the space that literally shows what Piazza della Bocca della Verita would look like from above."

A unanimous vote was required from the judges to determine the individual category winners ($50 each) and Best of Show ($100).

"Derek's work was a strong mark with excellent use of color and typography, and the accompanying collateral was executed with great attention to detail both visually and conceptually," Wasteney said.

"Winning Best of Show was a very humbling experience," Hunt said. "Many extremely talented designers are represented in the exhibition, and it must have been a very difficult decision for the judges. It's such an honor."

Hunt gives Iowa State and his design coursework credit for much of his success.

"ISU has made a great deal of impact on me as a designer," he said. "It's amazing to see how much I've grown and learned during my time here, but I think that comes from the support and dedication that my professors provide. They are constantly pushing me to perform, change and adapt, and through this I've learned to never settle for anything and continue to push my limits."

A PDF catalog of all of the work in the 2009 exhibition, including the winners, is available on the ADAI website at http://www.artdirectorsiowa.org/exhibition_student.asp.

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