Meet the Bright Awards 2023 Winners

What are the Bright Awards?

We developed the Bright Awards at Billy Blue College of Design to celebrate emerging design and creative technology talent. Open to Year 10, 11 and 12 students, the Bright Awards recognise up-and-coming designers and support the future of the arts and emerging technologies in high schools across Australia.

The Awards are a design and creative technology competition that gives students the opportunity to show off their skills in a range of fields and have their work recognised by industry experts. In addition, winners take monetary prizes for themselves and their schools, to help kickstart their dreams and careers.

The Bright Awards 2023 featured nine categories: 3D Design & Animation, Graphic Design, Games, UX & Web Design, Photography, Film & Video, Fashion Design, Interior Design and our new category, Coding & Robotics.

The nine category finalists in 2023 received a cash prize of $1,000 each, plus a complimentary Creative Cloud licence in partnership with Adobe to help support their creative pursuits.

The new Pinnacle Award

This year we introduced the Pinnacle Award. All category finalists are considered for the Pinnacle Award in Creativity & Innovation Excellence, for a further prize of $1,500 cash, a scholarship to study Design and Creative Technology with us, and $5,000 for their school to continue providing an environment for emerging talent to exercise their skills in design and creative technology.

Who are the 2023 Bright Awards winners?

Category Winners

3D Design & Animation - Irina Shivtorova, Killara High School

Judge’s comment: “Irina was able to craft a visually appealing and cohesive narrative piece with her control of numerous areas of animation design. This included character and object animation, lighting, layout and shot design as well as directing, editing, sound and score. Wonder is clearly a result of her passion in the field of 3D Animation.”

The judges also awarded Oscar Micklethwait with a Commendation Award for his entry. Both Oscar and Irina were from Killara High School, and it’s clear these students have had fantastic support and mentoring from their teacher, Jia Pan.

Graphic Design – Angelina Kwok, Balwyn High School

Judge’s comment: “A thoughtful and well-presented submission that effectively encapsulates a handcrafted vision. It authentically conveys the brand's story, and the consistent visual identity reinforces brand recognition. Well done!”

Angelina clearly has a passion for design, having submitted a second entry into the Interior Design category and receiving a Commendation Award. Angelina was also our 2021 Bright Awards Interior Design category winner. We see an incredible future ahead in the field of design for Angelina.

Games – Eugene Tan, Balwyn High School

Judge’s comment: “It’s an extremely well-executed demo for a Year 12 student. Honestly, I wouldn’t expect work of this quality from a second-year uni student.”

UX & Web Design – Josephine Scott, Abbotsleigh

Judge’s comment: “Impressive! It's a comprehensive effort covering aspects of design and development.”

Film & Video – Harvey Abrahams, Sydney Grammar School

Judge’s comment: “With the film Substratum, Harvey Abrahams demonstrates an array of technical, aesthetic and storytelling skills. On the surface, the film consists of high-quality rendered 3D environments, believable practical effects, interesting lighting and camera aesthetics. Looking deeper, the film portrays an underlying allegory that reflects the modern world – ignorance of compassion and a lust for power.”

Fashion Design – Elise Plumley, Killara High School

Judge’s comment: “Elise's Bright Awards entry tackled a wicked problem in a comprehensive manner. The framing of the problem, the ideation and research conducted, the experimentation with material and the creative execution were excellent examples of the design process in action. Thoroughly detailed, the entry demonstrated a fine attention to detail and represents a practical, innovative and potentially scalable solution to a problem that requires real world attention. The world is in better hands with students of the calibre of Elise able to influence the future.”

Photography – Darien Wang, Pittwater High School

Judge’s comment: “Darien Wang's portfolio showcases a remarkable diversity of photography genres, encompassing automotive, sports, nature, landscapes, architecture and events. His artworks possess a strong identity, at the same time simultaneously demonstrating his technical excellence. Well done!”

Interior Design – Sabine Mitchell, St Joseph's College, Echuca

Judge’s comment: “Sabine's submission is well researched and with good documentation of a comprehensive design process. The drawings and models worked together to do exactly what they should in this process – they have been an opportunity for Sabine to keep learning about her client and their needs. Through this honest process, Sabine is on track to provide the client with the best space possible for them! The presentation is well laid out and of a high standard – something I would be very happy to see in a university classroom, or even in a design office. Bravo to Sabine and all her work with this project.”

The judges also recognised the work of Emily Chester from Northpine Christian College and Angelina Kwok from Balwyn High School in this category.

Coding and Robotics - Tristan Randall, Broughton Anglican College

Judge’s comment: “Solid design and futuristic thinking - when given resources, Tristan was able to build a useful system.”

This was the first year Coding and Robotics was added to the Bright Awards category list and we saw students enter this category from Broughton Anglican College and Castle Hill High School. It was great to see the creative thinking applied to coding practice, and the support of teachers from both schools aiding the growth of our young technologists.

Our 2023 Bright Awards Pinnacle Winner

The judges were totally aligned when deciding the winner of the 2023 inaugural Pinnacle Award.

Harvey Abrahams, Sydney Grammar School

Judge’s comment: “This entry includes conceptual, technical, aesthetic and emotive storytelling techniques that engage the audience on multiple levels. Being able to bring all those elements together is a rare accomplishment. The approach taken to address a real-world problem was thought provoking and captivating to watch at the same time.”

Congratulations Harvey on an incredible submission. We’re excited about the future for all our entrants and look forward to connecting with you all, and your teachers into 2024.

Our partner

This year, the Bright Awards design competition would not be possible without our creative partner Adobe, who provided nine complimentary Adobe Creative Cloud licences as part of the category awards prizes and helped guide students through an online workshop that took applicants through the process of Design Thinking to help them get started on their submission.

Our head judges were Robyn Latimer OAM, Associate Dean Design and Creative Technology at Torrens University Australia and Alwyn Hunt, Head of Education, Partnerships in the 3D & Immersive division of Adobe and co-founder of The Rookies.

Special thanks to our category award judges and academic team: Ivan Kintanar, Russell Ponting, Mel O’Brien, Dan Staines, Tony Jan, Elicia Simon, Andy Marsh and William Aung.

Want to learn more about the Design Thinking process? Download our Design Thinking Workshop Guide.

Want to enter the Bright Awards?

Find out about next year’s Awards, upcoming open days and other opportunities by connecting with Billy Blue College of Design social channels.