Students of the Graphic Design program at College of the North Atlantic (CNA) are having a stellar year, most recently having a chance to showcase their talents with guitar designs for the URock Volunteer Awards. The URock Volunteer Awards recognize youth and youth-led organizations for their outstanding contributions in communities throughout the province. According to instructor Craig Chislett, CNA was first contacted by URock two years ago to request unique design submissions from students. “It’s always great to have the students work in real world situations,” said Chislett. “It gives them a better understanding of client timelines and strict deadlines. It also helps them to experience different opinions on their work and not just a mark or grade for a project.” The designs had to be original works of art and meet size restrictions in order to be feasible for printing. First and second year students submitted approximately 24 designs, with the final decision made by the organization as to which ones would be used for the official awards. "I thought it was a wonderful experience,” said Mikayla Woodford of Chapel’s Cove. “It gives you a sense of accomplishment, pride and a confidence boost to see your hard work being presented for someone else to enjoy." There were a total of eight designs selected, with some students having more than one design chosen. The students got to see their designs come to life last week at the annual URock Awards ceremony. “Being at the awards (ceremony) and seeing my designs come to life in the form of a guitar made me feel like a professional,” said Amanda Larner of Whitbourne. “The URock awards is a great cause and I'm glad I could be a part of it." While the designs were completed as a volunteer project, Chislett says they worked another component into their class as a vinyl cutting exercise. “The students all designed a single colour project that I cut on the vinyl cutter and we all then applied the vinyl to guitar shaped cut-outs that I had prepared on the laser cutter,” said Chislett. Those designs are currently on display on the wall of D wing at Prince Philip Drive campus in St. John’s. “I am happy to have worked with the URock awards again this year,” said Chislett. “I hope we continue to work with them in the future. The students really enjoy working on the project and seeing the end result makes all the work even more rewarding.” For more information about Graphic Design program at CNA, visit www.cna.nl.ca. For more information about the URock Volunteer Awards program, visit www.nlyouth.ca. - 30 - Media Contact: Glenda McCarthy Public Relations Specialist College of the North Atlantic 709.643.6408 glenda.mccarthy@cna.nl.ca