Design wins Best School at National Student Show

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas Department of Design was named Best School at the 10^th annual National Student Show earlier this month. It is the third year in a row the department has won the show’s top academic award.

“We are thrilled to have won “Best School” three years running. There are schools with tremendous talent, and the competition is extremely intense," said Andrea Herstowski, interim chair and associate professor.

The National Student Show is an annual three-day conference, exhibition and awards program put on by the Dallas Society of Visual Communications. It is the only design-arts event in the U.S. where entries are limited to student work.

In March projects and portfolios were submitted for judging by an independent panel of five graphic design professionals. They choose work in 28 categories for exhibition. More than 1,400 projects and portfolios from 40 schools were entered this year.

KU students authored 70 of the some 200 works selected for the display. Of these, the judges chose KU work as “Best” in 10 classes and gave two student projects Judge’s Choice awards. According to Herstowski, KU students brought home over $9,000 in prize money.

Herstowski said she is particularly pleased that Design Department students earned Best Portfolio awards in the sophomore and junior classes, and won first and third place in the Senior Portfolio award category. All five of the candidates for the Sophomore Portfolio Scholarship were from KU.

All of the winners of the National Student Show can be viewed at: https://nationalstudentshow.com/winners/

KU students who took home Best Of and Judges’ Choice awards:

Best Senior Portfolio
First place: Sally Carmichael, LenexaThird place: Drue Davis, Lawrence

Best Junior Portfolio
Sydney Goldstein, Overland Park