AIGA Jacksonville’s 24th annual Portfolio Review saw an impressive display of talent on both sides of the review tables at Jacksonville University’s Davis School of Business Saturday, April 13. More than 50 professional designers and educators took time to review more than 60 students from five area design programs, including The Art Institute of Jacksonville, Flagler College, Jacksonville University, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Keiser University and the University of North Florida.
From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the review hall was filled with a creative and energetic atmosphere as students showed their best work to reviewers eager to offer insight and feedback. Each student reviewed with six to eight different professionals in sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes. In response to the trend in previous years to show work digitally, and to show more interactive and motion work, this year’s review split the competition into two portfolio categories: print and hybrid/digital. A panel of five judges, including current president Karen Kurycki, past presidents Russel Quadros and Varick Rosete, Claire Do, and guest speaker Mikey Burton, narrowed more than 20 competition entries to four winners: Kristie Feltner (Flagler) took top honors for the print division and Lauren Trump (UNF), Anthony Orrach (UNF) and Ryan Tempro (Flagler) took first, second and third place, respectively, for the hybrid/digital division.
Across the board, students continue to exhibit a very high quality of work. All of the students’ professors should be commended on their efforts to help develop this level of skill in graduating students.
“We were impressed by the work we saw from the students this year. I personally loved seeing some strong illustration skills mixed in with the design books, along with some really fun motion pieces,” said Kurycki. “I think the new format for judging was a good change to the review—any student who wanted to be considered for top honors was considered, which made it an even playing field.”
The two-day Portfolio Review event kicked off Friday night with a hilarious and inspiring evening with guest speaker Mikey Burton, whose presentation highlighted his Kent State University thesis project of illustrative reinterpretations of classic book covers, and told the tale of how drinking beer and designing posters for local bands with his friends turned into a lucrative career illustrating for national publications and designing for world-renowned music acts. UNF’s Talon Room was the perfect venue for the crowd of 65 to mingle before and after the presentation.
Many thanks to all of the professionals, participants and volunteers who continue to make this event such a success and such a great opportunity for young creative minds to engage with the area’s dynamic design community—we could not do it without you. We hope to see you at next year’s Portfolio Review.
Special thanks to our sponsors, Folio-Weekly, Character Counts! in Jacksonville, and Modis. You can check out the rest of the photos on flickr.
