Wintec Media Arts students past and present win at recent Aotearoa Student Press Awards
Wintec Media Arts student Nate Raffan and graduate Josh Nelson designed winning magazine covers that contributed to Nexus magazine’s “Best Covers” award win at the recent Aotearoa Student Press Awards (ASPAs).
Held each year, the Aotearoa Student Press Awards (ASPA's) celebrates the best in student media.
Nexus submitted three cover designs with their entry - one by Raffan, Nelson and another from a University of Waikato student.
Judge Caleb Carnie chose Nexus’s designs for their strong visual energy and difference.
“Nexus appeals to me for the polarity of textural changes between each example in the folio, while still maintaining the same visual energy and masthead qualities across all three.
“The Nexus team seems to manage being visually completely different between editions (and thereby eye-catching) without surrendering its unique recognition factors on the newsstand. I commend their fine execution, holistic approach to cover artwork and tidy consistency.”
Raffan is over the moon about the win, saying that it’s “very exciting.”
“I wanted the style to reflect the busy and hectic nature of student life, so I incorporated photography from my friend Kabe Clarkin and myself.
“For the illustration, I was inspired by graffiti styles and the art of French artist Basquiat”
“Working with Nexus on this cover has definitely given me additional motivation to do more projects in the future and get into the creative industry after I finish studying.”
Raffan’s Media Arts tutor Jordan Foster is equally as enthused and can’t speak highly enough about his abilities.
“Nate is a strong student with great illustration and design abilities. His mixed media cover for Nexus has an interesting lo–fi quality to it, not in the sense that it feels unpolished or unrefined, but in the sense that it feels like this cover is a part of a larger aesthetic exploration for Nate.
“As Nate's tutor I've seen his ability to reproduce material. It’s fun to see students experimenting and 'playing', trying things out and seeing what happens, it's an incredibly important skill but one that Nate doesn't need a lot of push on. He is constantly trying things and being curious. It’s a great asset to have as a designer."
Find out more about studying Media Arts at Wintec.
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