JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 19 February, 2020 – Samsung has collaborated with Vega Design School on a competition that gives young South African designers the opportunity to showcase their impressive design skills. The students were invited to create content that will be used as Samsung Galaxy themes that will be loaded on to the Galaxy Store. The winners, Dean Sartor, Kyle Sartor, Mohapi Polo and Liam Cuffley, will now have their artwork made available to an international audience. The aim of the Design Jam competition is to produce unique artwork designed by the creative vision of young Africans.

“We were proud to see the level of work submitted by the winning students and look forward to showcasing their work on a global stage. We believe that the country is rich in natural talent and look forward to promoting these new pioneers and mavericks. Their skills echo our own pursuit of excellence – design that brings the world to life in innovative ways, “says Cambridge Mokanyane, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung South Africa.

The winners were selected based on an online poll by fellow students as well as the public. Vega selected their second year students as the first group of designers to drive this initiative. Over 400 students across Vega’s 4 campuses (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban) were involved in the Design Jam competition that took place in 2019. The students worked in groups consisting of 3 to 4 people to design a full theme consisting of wallpapers, icons and Always On displays.

The Vega students had an open ended brief allowing them to create a “local is lekker” approach to themes over a variety of categories: sports, cars, lifestyle, nature, monuments and also illustrative designs. Students were encouraged to use a variety of crafting skills and tools such as photography, traditional and digital illustration and/or typography. The winning designed themes will be available on all Samsung devices ranging from entry level to premium including the A-Series, S-Series and Note devices.

“Samsung continuously supports South African artists and we believe that the country is rich in natural talent and look forward to promoting the work of these creative problem solvers and mavericks. Their skills echo our own pursuit of excellence – design that brings the world to life in innovative ways, “says Cambridge Mokanyane, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung South Africa.

Vega selected their second year graphic design, copywriting and digital design students to form collaborate teams across disciplines to apply disruptive design-thinking techniques. Over 400 students across Vega’s 4 campuses (Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban) were involved in the Design Jam competition that took place on the 31st July 2019 and each team comprising of 3 to 4 students designed a full theme consisting of wallpapers, icons and Always On displays.

The three group finalists have now been selected:

Team Afronauts (Vega Johannesburg) comprising the following members:

• Dean Sartor
• Kyle Sartor
• Mohapi Polo
• Liam Cuffley

Team Fantastic 5 (Vega Durban) comprising the following members:

• Caitlin Robinson
• Abigail Gilbert
• Kirsten Small
• Zanele Biyela
• Chantal Jonker

Team Bessick and Smit (Vega Cape Town) comprising the following members:

• Bradley Smit
• Cody Bessick

The Vega students had an open ended brief allowing them to create a “local is lekker” approach to themes over a variety of categories: sports, cars, lifestyle, nature, monuments and also illustrative designs. The brief allowed students to be creative in their approach and apply their design skills with a clear end goal in mind, to ensure their designs stood out. Students were encouraged to use a variety of crafting skills and tools such as photography, traditional and digital illustration and/or typography. The Design Jam competition will allow new locally designed themes to be loaded to the Galaxy Store. This content will therefore be more relevant and accessible in various African territories. The designed themes will be available on all Samsung devices ranging from entry level to premium (A-Series, S-Series and Note) devices.

Samsung is now inviting the public to be a part of the selection of the overall winner, by visiting https://www.samsung.com/za/offer/vega-competition
Voters will stand a chance to win R1000 worth of shopping vouchers. Voting is from 9 to 13 December 2019. Once all votes have been counted, the winner will be announced by 20 December 2019.

Competition Terms and Conditions apply: https://www.samsung.com/za/offer/vega-competition-terms/