Student design awards presented at Gulf Pack & Gulf Print

The awards attracted 76 entries divided into 5 categories including Poster Design, Book Design, Corporate Identity, Font and Packaging Design.

The awards were presented by Mohammed Binghalib, Project Director of the International Media Free Zone (IMPZ) and member of the judging panel of the competition. He said "we were glad to co-operate with the professional packaging and printing community in supporting these awards in its effort to identify, recognise and foster exceptional design talent. Talent will be even more important for maintaining the competitiveness of our region's printing and packaging industries in the coming years. IMPZ's involvement in the awards gives us an opportunity to express our commitment for these values," he added.

According to Dominic McGill, Project Manager of Gulf Print, the stated aim of the Gulf Pack and Gulf Print awards "was to motivate home grown talent, local art and graphic design." The organisers of the shows have already confirmed that they will continue with the awards for next year and issue invitations to all colleges running graphics design courses to participate. "We can even expand this invitation to other colleges outside the UAE, throughout the Gulf area" said McGill.

The judging process actually took place in July under the careful supervision of Professor Maureen Wayman, Pro Vice Chancellor, Dean of Faculty of Art and Design, Manchester Metropolitan University. The judging panel attended the award ceremony and featured representatives from the event's sponsors including Sherifa Hady, Marketing Manager of HP, David Steele of Motivate Publishing, Virginia Kern, Chairman of Fairs & Exhibitions Ltd, Joe Karkour, Area Manager of Layout Middle East, Francis Matthew, Editor of Gulf News, Guy Taylor, Managing Director of Momentum, and Dominic McGill. Ms Wayman said "the calibre of entries was excellent and it gave all the judges a hard task to identify the best."