Vega students scoop up the Black Pixel award at Bookmarks 2018

Returning to the Bookmark Awards , The IIE Vega graduates, Saraah Saint (Visual Communication ) and Jessica Hay (Creative Brand Communication) were awarded a coveted Black Pixel award in the ‘Best Digital Student’ sub-category. This is the second year in a row that students from Vega have walked away with this accolade.

Saint and Hay, who both completed their studies at Vega (an educational brand of The Independent Institute of Education – The IIE), submitted their campaign, “Who Wore it Best?” to the awards, which also earned them a D&AD Pencil Award  in the ‘New Blood’ category last year.

“After conducting a great deal of research into anti-fur campaigns of the past, we found that the ‘blood and gore’ approach proved ineffective when it came to getting people to appreciate the message behind the campaign and take it seriously,” says Saint.

“We engaged with our navigators, who guided us through the technical process of executing the project and bringing our ideas to life,” added Hay.

Saint and Hay’s campaign focused on the role that celebrities play in the fashion world by endorsing fur and encouraging its desirability as a high-end fashion item. A striking feature of the campaign is how Saint and Hay showcase the stark contrast between animals and humans and illustrate this by using the animals to take over the fashion industry as the ones who actually wear fur the best.

The campaign included a series of magazine covers and print ads featuring side-by-side images of celebrities dressed in fur and an animal that the fur the garment was made from, with the heading, “B*** Stole My Look!”. The team also created a Facebook voting poll for social media users to vote to decide who wears fur better – celebs or animals – along with an online anti-fur pledge form for people to sign. Included in the social media visual content was a series of beautifully-designed “Flash Fur” fashion show posters.

“The Bookmark Awards is such a prestigious platform in South Africa and around the world, and to be recognised for our work – for a second year in a row – is an amazing and truly rewarding feeling,” says the duo. “Once again, we have to give a great big thank you to our wonderful and committed navigators for all their guidance and support, as well as Vega for creating an environment that allows us to flourish and express ourselves every day.”