The International Interior Design Association’s Northern Pacific Chapter is pleased to announce the winners of our 1st annual Student Portfolio Scholarship sponsored by Wilsonart International.  This opportunity was open to all IIDA Student Members within the states of our chapter (Alaska, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia and Alberta) and received entries from six different participating schools.  In response to the current economic shortfalls, the IIDA NPC turned its attention to an opportunity that would aid students financially as well as help them to refine their work before entering the professional field in hopes that they may better position themselves for a job opportunity post graduation. Wilsonart International graciously donated $2500 to make this opportunity a reality.

And the winners are...

Best of Senior ($1250 Scholarship):  Katie Doyle (Art Institute of Seattle):
Katie’s portfolio showed a mature and intentional clarity in thought and presentation. Her clean graphic layout consistently communicated and sold her work in a very professional way.  The jury especially liked the creativity demonstrated with the Farmer’s Market stand which was a wonderfully thoughtful and fun solution for something as simple as a fruit and vegetable stand. It exemplified a consistent passion for design, no matter what the size. We look forward to seeing Katie in the professional realm real soon.

Best of Junior ($750 Scholarship):  Savanna Barker (Bellevue College):
Savanna’s work shows her attention to detail.  She tells the story clearly to her audience through her writing and her illustrations. Often times, designers show an obvious affinity to either conceptual or technical skill sets. Savanna’s portfolio of work showed a really good balance of both demonstrating the potential to be a strong overall designer.

Best of Sophomore ($500 Scholarship):  Karla Lee (Washington State University):
It was very impressive to see the depth in thought for a sophomore level student and the initiative she shows in getting her work out in the world through her website was fantastic.  The way she speaks about her designs made us believe she will not have any problems convincing future clients of her design decisions. It’s really an impressive skill to have at this point. The jury all agreed that it was great to see someone care so much about their work this early on in their education.
 
Honorable Mention:  Dong Il (Cornish College of the Arts):
The jury was so impressed with his office project which was presented through motion graphics and sound that we felt compelled to single Dong out for an Honorable Mention. It was really a ground breaking presentation. He shows great potential for learning and growing as a designer at an exponential rate.  The progress shown in his portfolio of work demonstrates that he thinks about and soaks up everything around him and really leverages it all to push himself to the next level. He is definitely another young designer to keep track of.

Special thanks go out to Dave Kutsunai, Spencer DeMille, Hazel Strickon, and Jamie Drzayich for creating, orchestrating and coordinating the scholarship.  Also a big thank you to the jurors who are all leaders in our design community:

Ali Khatibi

Karen Dahlstrom

Andrea Vanecko

Alan Young

Lynn Vandeberg

Jeff Miller

MJ Munsell

Thank you to all of the students who participated and stay tuned for another scholarship from IIDA Northern Pacific Chapter coming in the spring!