24/07/2008 09:07 AM
Online conservation game wins Premier's Design Award
An online game developed by Swinburne University students and staff has received a 2008 Premier's Design Award.
The succesful game, Mission H2o is themed around water conservation, teaching players how to optimise water usage in the home.
Created in the style of a pop-up book, Mission H2o is the result of a collaboration between Swinburne’s multimedia design department and non-profit organisation, the savewater!® Alliance.
It features the Wilson family – Barry Buckets, Barbara Bubbles, Chelsea Sprinkles, Johnny Hydro and Nana Flo – who guide players through eight sub-games contained within various parts of their home.
Players can test their knowledge about water conservation through quizzes and other interactive games. With each leak that is plugged and each tub of bath water that is recycled, your score increases.
The game is the work of 80 third year students and five lecturers from the universityÂ’s multimedia design program, and represents more than 18,000 hours of research and development.
“There are other games in the market that try to teach players different things however I haven’t seen anything like this in the water conservation area. It’s great for the target age group to interact and play with,” said Swinburne multimedia design lecturer James Marshall.
The award's judging panel, which consists of international and local leaders in the design field, looked very favourably on Swinburne's entry stating that: "Mission H2O is a timely well executed cross platform project demonstrating a sound knowledge of an emerging audience. It reflects a growing awareness of environmental sustainability and has approached the issue in a way that is functional and easy to use."
"There's a strong narrative element throughout the application that makes the project engaging beyond 'just another online application' and elements of game play make it compelling for users."
The PremierÂ’s Design Awards is a biennial awards program developed by the Victorian State Government to recognise excellence in design practice in Victoria.
Mission H2o can be accessed at
www.missionh2o.com.au
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20/05/2008 12:55 PM
Outstanding Student secures VC Centenary Scholarship
HEYWOOD'S, Katherine Cameron, who is studying Bachelor of Design (Communication) at Swinburne, has
won a Vice-Chancellor's Centenary Scholarship for displaying academic excellence in Year 12.
Katherine is one of 39 students to win a scholarship which will exempt her from paying the Student Contribution Amount (previously known as HECS).
"Creative arts run in my family and I knew that I wanted to pursue graphic design. "I have four cousins who are all designers and had the chance to have a taste of the industry and really enjoyed it.
"One particular cousin completed the communication design course at Swinburne and loved it so much he stayed on to teach in the design field. "Also many successful designers have come out of Swinbume due to their high design standards and opportunity for industry placement.
"I intend to complete my course and in third year travel on exchange to France to study design. "This will give me a broader range of design culture and also improve my French which I aim to become fluent at.
"At this stage I would also like to succeed at my course and do industry placement as a way of getting ahead with work. "After uni I intend to earn enough money to travel to South America and Asia as well as live in France for a year."
Source - Hamilton Spectator, Tuesday 6/5/2008
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21/04/2008 02:06 PM
Swinburne online game acknowledged in the 'Oscars of the Internet'
An online game developed by Swinburne University students and staff has been recognised as an Official Honoree in the 12th Annual Webby Awards - hailed as the 'Oscars of the Internet.'
The distinction has been awarded to Mission H2o, a water conservation game that teaches players how to optimise water usage in the home.
Created in the style of a pop-up book, Mission H2o was the result of a collaboration between Swinburne's multimedia design department and a non-profit organisation, the savewater!® Alliance.
It features the Wilson family - Barry Buckets, Barbara Bubbles, Chelsea Sprinkles, Johnny Hydro and Nana Flo - who guide players through eight sub-games contained within various parts of their home.
Players can test their knowledge about water conservation through quizzes and other interactive games. With each leak that is plugged and each tub of bath water that is recycled, your score increases.
The game is the work of 80 third year students and five lecturers from the university's multimedia design program, and represents more than 18,000 hours of research and development.
"There are other games in the market that try to teach players different things however I haven't seen anything like this in the water conservation area. It's great for the target age group to interact and play with," said Swinburne multimedia design lecturer James Marshall.
The 12th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from 60 countries worldwide. Out of all these entries, fewer than 15 per cent were deemed Official Honorees.
Established in 1996 the Webby Awards acknowledge excellence on the Internet including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video and mobile websites.
The Mission H2o game can be accessed at www.missionh2o.com.au
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14/03/2008 04:12 PM
Swinburne University students are ahead of the crowd with Design Now!
Do you ever wonder what the next big thing in design will be?
What are the best emerging ideas and trends?
Well, here is your chance to be one step ahead of the crowd. Young designers from across the country have competed with fellow students to exhibit their work in Objects annual national graduate exhibition Design Now!, opening in Sydney at Object Gallery on 5 April until 15 June 2008.
The group of 18 finalists represent the best and freshest upcoming designers in Australia, selected from over 120 nominees from 21 universities. This years finalists include 3 outstanding students from Swinburne Universitys Faculty of Design.
Design for Industry
Benjamin Campbell Forsyth (Swinburne), Viktor Legin (Swinburne)
Design for Communication
Daniel Peterson (Swinburne)
The exhibition will provide a fantastic opportunity to preview the very latest in design, and meet Australias next generation of iconic designers.Objects graduate exhibition has launched the careers of Australian designers since 2001, showcasing and nurturing almost 100 outstanding graduates over the past seven years.
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01/06/2007 07:13 AM
Dendy Reelife Film Festival
Congratulations to Davey Sams, winner of Best Cinematography for his 16mm film Dreams at this yearÂ’s Dendy Reelife Film Festival. This is a great achievement for Davey, especially if you consider the large number of high caliber films he was competing against.
Davey and his classmates are the first cohort of students to graduate from the Film and Television program. Dreams was produced as his major project for the final year of his degree.
View the film at www.niceshorts.com.au by clicking on the link below:
Dreams
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