Students of College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Graphic Design program took home 22 awards in the student category from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Newfoundland and Labrador Pinnacle Awards gala in St. John’s June 7, while the college’s Marketing and Communications Department received three awards.
The Pinnacle Awards, presented by the Newfoundland and Labrador Chapter of the IABC, are rigorously evaluated to measure excellence in communications.
The students took home nine Awards of Excellence and 13 Awards of Merit for their designs.
Karly Barker, of Halifax, Nova Scotia won two Awards of Excellence for her designs entitled
Break the Cycle and
NL Double Ds, as well as two Awards of Merit for
My Maid and
Abominable Pong. She also received two Awards of Excellence and one Award of Merit from the 2015 Pinnacle Awards.
“It’s exciting to have won the awards and it makes you feel confident in your work and confident in yourself,” Barker said. “It’s exciting to represent the college on these awards. It shows just how great the instruction is that we get. It’s nice to win these awards while I make my exit as I graduate from the college this month. Winning Pinnacle Awards does come up when I’ve talked to people in the industry whether for work terms or summer employment. It is looked upon highly by industry and employers alike.”
John Barry, Instructional Coordinator of Applied Arts and Tourism, says in all the years the students have been entering, 2016 marks the record number of Pinnacle Awards won by students in the Graphic Design program.
“When we learned of the number of student award winners this year, we were thrilled,” said Barry. “It's a record for the Graphic Design program and shows the great depth of talent, enthusiasm and dedication of our students, as well as the professionalism and commitment of our faculty. This not only validates students' work in the program, but if offers them encouragement as they move forward in their studies or on to employment in industry. We are grateful to IABC NL for their support of emerging Graphic Designers in the province through this initiative, as well as to CNA for their unwavering support of the Graphic Design program.”
The Marketing and Communications Department took home an Award of Excellence for the college’s
Indispensable Videos, as well as Awards of Merit for the
CNAstories.ca microsite and for the student-led provincial event
Mental Health Matters.
According to Stephen Lee, CNA’s Manager of Marketing and Communications, the
CNAstories.ca micro-site provides an engaging multi-media experience and features four personal video stories of CNA alumni. The videos, which received the Award of Excellence, leverage the core umbrella theme ‘Indispensable’ and allows CNA to communicate focused marketing messages.
“We’ve always known that many College of the North Atlantic alumni hold down impressive jobs in some really impressive industries,” said Lee. “And our Indispensable campaign with the videos and microsite allows us an avenue to share some of those stories with residents of our province, but also potential students anywhere in the world. If you haven’t seen the videos, you really should check them out.”
CNA also received an Award of Merit for the Mental Health Matters event. In 2015, the entire student population came together to combat the stigma attached to mental health issues. Held on March 25, the event was designed to ensure CNA provided an environment where students felt comfortable speaking about their experiences and challenges with mental health. Students and staff posted messages on specially designed placards in each campus, and on a website set up specifically for the Mental Health Matters event.
“Numerous student-led activities took place at all of CNA’s 17 campuses throughout the province. The main objective was to raise awareness about mental health within the CNA community,” said Lee. “This awareness campaign fell directly in line with the college’s mandate of educating and supporting students, staff, faculty and administration through mental health programs, services and initiatives, as well as promoting mental health through a respectful work and learning environment.”
To view the award winning Indispensable campaign and alumni videos, visit cnastories.ca.
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Media Contact:
Glenda McCarthy
Public Relations Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709.643.6408
glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca