UTRGV: S O A D N E W S
Press Release: 11.21.2021
Re: School of Art and Design Adobe Jam Multiple Competition Winners
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
HEADLINE: UTRGV School of Art and Design (SOAD) design students competed in two Adobe Jam’s International Competitions this semester: the College + The New York Times Creative Jam 2021 and the College + Amazon Creative Jam 2021 this semester taking a top ten spot, and three honorable mentions.
https://www.utrgv.edu/school-of-art/_files/documents/press-release_-adobe_jams_2021.pdf
https://www.pxstudio.us/pdf/press-release_adobe-jams-2021.pdf
COPY:
The Competition:
Nine teams from UTRGV’s School of Art & Design participated The international contest with 315 student teams from 95 Universities from the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, and Ireland. Students represented some of the top Art & Design Schools in this competition from — ArtCenter College of Design, Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts, Boston University, California State University, British Columbia Institute of Technology, Emily Carr University of Art & Design, Waterloo University, all of Canada, to New York University,
New School, Parson’s School of Design and Pratt Institute, Rhode Island School of Design, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Columbia University, University of Pennsylvania, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UIUC, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, and from Texas Rice University, and UT Austin.
The NY Times Challenge:
The design challenge for the College + New York Times Creative Jam was “to design a usercentric mobile-first experience that increases trust and credibility in election content, in some way, for readers. Consider a visual or functional experience that confirms that news, polls, and outcomes are trustworthy to users.”
These competitions are unique opportunities for students to solve real world problem under pressure. Students gather in teams of two for two weeks to solve the challenge applying their design, UX/UI, and critical thinking skills to mobile app design, competing for cash prizes and honors. This fall semester students joined the two Creative Jams — the College + The New York Times Creative Jam 2021 on September 28 and the College + Amazon Creative Jam on November 10, 2021. UTRGV won three honorable mentions in the NY Times competition and
placed as a finalist in the top 10.
Amongst this heated competition UTRGV graphic design majors Emily Guerra, a junior graphic design major, from Professor Ping Xu’s ARTS-4333 Graphic Design I class and Kenia Salazar, a senior graphic design major from Dr. Elizabeth Berger’s ARTS-4334 Graphic Design II class teamed up to create the mobile app “No Debate”. No Debate gives users a simple and direct way to verify and trust what their news feeds presents giving them control of their information. The team received an honorable mention.
Senior graphic design majors, Eva Robles and Cassandra Rojas designed “Todbit”, and Javier Gonzalez and Juan Alonzo, junior and senior graphic design majors designed “The Ballot.” All received honorable mentions and are from Professor Ping Xu’s ARTS-4333 Graphic Design I Class for Fall 2021.
The Students:
The Mobile Apps:
(Left to Right: “No Debate” by Emily Guerra and Eva Robles Honorable Mention; “Todbit” by Eva Robles and Cassandra Rojas, Honorable Mention; and “The Ballot” by Javier Gonzalez and Juan Alonzo, Honorable Mention.)
Detailed information about the College + The New York Times Creative Jam contest:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/college-the-new-york-times-creative-jam-live-with-adobe-xdregistration-166411578511
https://pxstudio.us/blog/?p=48927
https://pxstudio.us/blog/?p=49486
The Amazon Challenge:
The design challenge for the College + Amazon Creative Jam was: “design an inclusive
experience in a third-party mobile app for high school students looking for opportunities to fulfill community service hours or volunteer to help their local community, no matter what their background or ability.”
Six UTRGV teams from the UTRGV School of Art & Design competed with 430 student teams
from 116 universities from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand including ArtCenter College of Design, Art Academy of Art University, New School, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute, School of Visual Arts, Rhode Island School of Design, Savannah College of Art & Design, California College of the Arts, Cornell University, Northwestern University, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, UT Austin, UT Dallas, University of Maryland, University of Michigan, University of Florida, University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M University, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCSD, UCLA, UIUC, Boston University, Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, Rice University, Indiana University, GIT, Rochester Institute of Technology, Hunter College, York University, University of British Columbia, British Columbia Institute of
Technology, University of Toronto, University of Ottawa, University of Sydney, University of New South Wales, Queensland University of Technology, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and Monash University, Australia.
Ariana Garza and Danna Zapata, both senior graphic design majors from Professor Ping Xu’s ARTS-4338 Interactive Design class. Garza and Zapata placed in the Top-10 finalists for their app Level-Up. The Level up app was designed to engage students within their school’s voluntary hours through elements of gamification and rewards.
The Students:
The App Level Up:
Detailed information about the College + Amazon Creative Jam contest:
https://pxstudio.us/blog/?p=49115
https://pxstudio.us/blog/?p=50812
The Art & Design faculty, Dr. Elizabeth Berger, Robert Gilbert, Ping Xu, Dr. Clara Choi, Erika Balogh, Corinne Whittemore, Aneta Urbanska, and Josie Stoleson, celebrate our student successes and are proud of their accomplishments.