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Artistic flair pays off for Jessica
Graduating University of the Sunshine Coast student Jessica Burrow’s artistic flair has earned her a coveted $500 prize and created plenty of opportunities for a career in graphic design.
Jessica won the Proost/De Deyne prize for having the best portfolio at Imago, an exhibition of graduating art and design students’ work which opened at the USC Gallery on Thursday 9 November.
Her portfolio was judged best by advertising and design industry representatives Darren Sprott of Design Solutions and Todd Cranston of Juniper Development who said Jessica’s skills made her highly employable.
Jessica, who won the Most Outstanding Art Achievement prize when she was a senior student at Caloundra State High School, thanked her lecturers, tutors, classmates and her family for their help and support at the exhibition opening.
She said the judges told her they were impressed by the artistry in her illustrations and by the self-initiated pieces in her portfolio.
"I grew up with painting and drawing so, rather than logging on to the Internet to look for ideas, a lot of my inspiration comes from my own imagination,’’ she said.
Fellow students Carlo Paul and Sian Sheppard received book prizes after being named by their lecturers as the most improved students. Their work and that of 23 other graduating art and design students will be on display at the USC Gallery until Friday 24 November.
Arts and Social Sciences senior lecturer Dr Ian White said Imago showcased the creative designs of the students in celebration of their transition from students to industry professionals.
"Our graduating students will emerge as the future leaders of design and the exhibition will provide a great opportunity for everyone to view the original, fresh and exciting ideas,’’ he said.
"Students graduating with computer-based art and design degrees move into many areas including advertising, graphic design, information visualisation, interpretive design, multimedia design and development, packaging, publishing and web design.
"We are thrilled with this talented group of individuals. Industry professionals, future students and the general community will find the exhibition inspiring."
The Gallery is open 10am to 4pm weekdays and 1-4pm on Saturdays and admission is free. The 2006 USC Gallery Exhibition Program is proudly supported by Coastline BMW.