2 KPU graduates win B.C. design awards for capstone projects

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Two recent graduates from Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Wilson School of Design, Elias Lemke and Cherlin Eggenfellner, won Salazar Awards for their capstone projects.

The Salazar Awards, established in 1985 and presented by DesCan Vancouver and founding sponsor Metropolitan Fine Printers, aim to recognize inspiring students enrolled in design programs across B.C.

Lemke’s video and motion category project titled “Panagraph,” focused on rebranding and revitalizing an organization dedicated to preserving endangered languages. Lemke used “November Salishan,” a typeface designed for Salishan languages in B.C., to display hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ accurately. This typeface was created by Typotheque, a type foundry and design studio that has worked with Indigenous nations across Canada. 

His project highlighted the importance of digital support for endangered languages and aimed to reintroduce traditional place names in B.C., he wrote in an email statement to The Runner. 

“I feel very honoured to receive this award from DesCan. This was a very meaningful project for me, and I am excited to see it get recognition,” he wrote. 

Lemke wrote that a significant challenge came from the lack of resources and information about Salishan languages. For this, he thanks Kevin King at Typotheque for his insights and for providing access to the “November Salishan” typeface Lemke used for the project. 

Lemke encourages design students to focus their capstone projects on subjects that they are interested in and passionate about. 

“Try to push the bounds of your creativity and try doing new things the people around you aren’t doing. Don’t be afraid to get a little wacky with your projects,” he wrote. 

Lemke credits his smooth transition to working as a designer at a Vancouver advertising and design studio to the preparation he received at KPU.

“The program is run by some amazing people, and all of our instructors were very engaging and committed to bringing up the next generation of designers,” he wrote. “That being said, it’s up to you to determine how much you make of it.”

Eggenfellner’s branding category project, “Steel Breathing,” exhibited the harsh realities of the housing crisis in Hong Kong, she wrote in an email statement to The Runner. 

Inspiration for the project came from her pressures of graduating and finding a career that could lead to owning a home in Vancouver, which she compares to a “David and Goliath” situation. Eggenfellner aimed to provoke change by showcasing a worst-case scenario in her capstone project.

Winning a Salazar Award was “an honour and a joy” for Eggenfellner, who attended the award ceremony, and was happy her instructors got to see the skills they helped develop within her on display in the project. 

“This project took me six different attempts to successfully finish, because the topic is one that isn’t pretty or glamorous in any way,” she wrote. 

“It’s a story of people who have been ignored for the longest time. An issue that’s purposely disregarded because the world seems like a less cruel place if it didn’t exist. So when you’re trying to appeal to people about this event — about something nobody wants to acknowledge — how do you do it both successfully and honestly?”

Eggenfellner wrote this was a question she battled with for four months, trying out different visual approaches and hoping one would accurately portray cage homes in a well-designed and interesting way. 

Last year, Eggenfellner received an honourable mention at the Salazar Awards, which she also received this year in addition to her award for “Steel Breathing.” She wrote that the experience of winning another award this year allowed her to compare her work to her previous ones, in which she realized there wasn’t much of a difference in how much she liked each piece.  

“The reason things win in Graphic Design is how much of an impact they have not on you, but on other people,” she wrote. “If you can make people want to engage with what you’ve made, that’s a pretty awesome thing.”

Lemke, along with Wilson School of Design students Veronika Kansaka, Bella Sanchez, Matteo Ferralasco, Cali Martin, Cody Garcia, Rowena Huang, and Georgia Stone, also won honourable mentions.