Academy of Art University’s School of Graphic Design celebrates 19 wins at the 2026 GDUSA Design Awards, showcasing innovative student work across branding, typography and experiential design.

Awards often feel like the end of a story, the culmination of months of work, reduced to a line of names on a certificate. But when you stand in front of a charcoal portrait that captures a figure’s vulnerability in mid‑motion, or see a festival identity washed in luminous red, or feel the quiet tension of a noir‑inspired brand, you realize awards are really about the journeys behind them.

This month, the Academy of Art University’s School of Graphic Design collected nineteen honors at the 2026 GDUSA Design Awards. It’s a recognition that speaks not only to the school’s industry focus but also to the amazing individual talent of its students. Rather than merely listing winners, we want to highlight what makes these projects compelling and why they point toward exciting directions in design.

What the awards represent

The GDUSA annual student competition honors outstanding work across branding, typography, environmental design and visual storytelling. It’s a national showcase for up‑and‑coming designers and underscores how strong academic mentorship can shape developing talent. The Academy’s students stood out among hundreds of entries for projects ranging from brand systems and typographic explorations to conceptual environmental design.

2026 GDUSA student winners from the Academy of Art University

The 19 recognized projects span music festivals, sustainability initiatives, lifestyle concepts, film and consumer products. Each name on this list represents not just a project but a creative journey, one that marries technical skill with conceptual depth. These distinctions remind us that awards are less about the endpoint and more about the process that got students there. Here are the winners and their instructors:

• Jasmine Chang – Type & Expression (Instructor: John Nettleton)
   
• Evelyn Kim – Reconnxt Music Festival (Instructor: Troy Alders)
   
• Zack Jacobson – Vignelli Sustainable Paints (Instructor: Thomas McNulty)
   
• Ariana Davies – Walk Amongst the Flowers (Instructor: Laurie Makela)
   
• Amy Burke – Second Stitch (Instructor: Fiona Blankenship)
   
• Goodness Okoro – Getto Life (Instructor: Hunter Wimmer)
   
• Jasmine Chang – Craft & Legacy (Instructor: John Nettleton)
   
• Sol Stern – Happy Brand System (Instructor: Thomas McNulty)
   
• Ursula McCarthy – Rocky Horror Picture Show (Instructor: John Nettleton)
   
• Svetlana Shubina – Disarmed (Instructor: John Nettleton)
   
• Craig Fowler – Marebella Fish Co. (Instructor: Anna Villano)
   
• Evelyn Kim – Defunkify (Instructor: Hannah Coward)
   
• Brenda Barrera – Ashes & Diamonds (Instructor: Thomas McNulty)
   
• Shivom Patel – Base Note (Instructor: Irena Milev)
   
• Zack Jacobson – 1840 Music Festival (Instructor: Troy Alders)
   
• Gavin Wong – Tokyo Math Rock Festival (Instructor: Thomas McNulty)
   
• Fei Wang – Nori Noir (Instructor: David Blankenship)
   
• Ningyi Xu – Hu Kitchen Chocolate (Instructor: Thomas McNulty)
   
• Jin Young Jang – Rem Koolhaas Exhibit (Instructor: John Nettleton)
   

Visual Highlights from the winning projects

Disarmed by Svetlana Shubina

Disarmed is a charcoal drawing project that examines vulnerability through quiet restraint.  Shubina combines the realism of classical portraiture with contemporary editorial design. The composition uses generous white space and a subtle serif title to frame a figure rendered in rich chiaroscuro.  Inside, the book pairs nearly blank pages with full‑bleed artwork, letting negative space act as a metaphor for silence and introspection.

Tokyo Math Rock Festival by Gavin Wong

Wong’s identity for the Tokyo Math Rock Festival blends typography with architecture and music.  Sharp serif lettering and modular logotype forms evoke both Latin and Japanese scripts, while a high‑contrast palette of red and black amplifies the festival’s energy.  The posters play with scale, overlaying type on photographic maps and cityscapes to merge cultural references.

The visual system extends to merchandise, such as a record sleeve, that uses gradients and vertical typesetting to fuse Eastern and Western aesthetic cues.  Coordinates and subtle textures anchor the design in a sense of place.

Nori Noir by Fei Wang

The Nori Noir project began with dozens of typographic and illustrative explorations. Pages of sketchbook logos show octopus icons, hand‑drawn wordmarks, and abstract motifs, illustrating the iterative process behind the final brand.

The completed identity takes cues from film noir: a refined, thin wordmark and minimal typography are paired with moody photography and brass finishes.  Menus and table cards use crisp serif type and generous margins to evoke elegance.  Everything, from a reserved‑seat card resting in a golden holder to the layout of the drinks list, suggests an intimate cinematic dining experience.

Even the imagery of the chef at work and the restaurant’s wood‑paneled facade contributes to the narrative.  Warm lighting and shadowy doorways create a sense of drama that complements the brand’s noir theme.