Students bring home record-breaking wins at prestigious visual design competition

From visuals illustrating the nuances of hummingbirds to the timeline of Jimi Hendrix’s career, projects created by students from the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media won big at the 2023 Society for News Design (SND) International Student Competition.

UNC Hussman students took home 26 of 59 available awards, including first place wins in the categories of Feature Page Design, Sports Page Design, Digital Storytelling, Special Sections and Art & Illustration. It is the most awards won by any school since the annual contest began more than 20 years ago.

Nineteen of this year’s awards were produced in Walter Spearman Distinguished Professor Terence Oliver’s “MEJO 484: Infographics” course.

Oliver praised the students’ strong showing and spoke about the influence of compelling visual work in the fields of journalism and communication.

“Visuals and communication are so important in the multimedia world of the 21st century because they help readers understand stories in new and intricate ways,” Oliver said. “A creative visual can fill dry facts with color and make a complex topic palatable.”

One of this year’s colorful entries — “Hummingbirds” by Riley Bergamasco ’23 — garnered first, second and honorable mention nods across several categories, including first place wins in Feature Page Design and Art & Illustration.

“I was inspired to create my ‘Hummingbirds’ infographic because I wanted to draw something beautiful and to challenge my artistic abilities,” said Bergamasco, who’ll join RTI International in June as a frontend UI/UX developer. “I am honored to be recognized for my work because I spent countless hours creating it and I am very proud.”

“Rivalry Edition 2023″ by Carson Elm-Picard ’24 won first place in Sports Page Design. Elm-Picard created the piece for the Rivalry 2023 cover for The Daily Tar Heel, UNC’s independent student newspaper, illustrating the yearly fundraiser built off the UNC-Duke men’s basketball rivalry.

“Strong visuals are extremely important, specifically in print, because publications are constantly competing with social media. There has to be something accompanying strong reporting that will initially draw readers in,” said Elm-Picard, who aspires to a career in editorial illustration and news design.

Below, view the “Rivalry Edition 2023” work, as well as other SND-winning Hussman pieces.

Strong visuals also draw people in to thinking about tough social issues like homelessness and violence against women explored by the “Unhoused” and “Spreading Black Wings: Violence Against Black Women” team projects, which won first and second place, respectively, in the Special Sections category.

Oliver called the projects some of the most meaningful student work he’s witnessed during his tenure at UNC Hussman.

“With ‘Unhoused,’ the class team did an incredible job of sharing information and statistics as they humanized a hard topic. With ‘Spreading Black Wings: Violence Against Black Women,’ the students did an incredible job reporting on one of the most disenfranchised and marginalized groups in our country — Black women,” Oliver said. “The team smartly presented information and statistics on discrimination in the workforce, partner, cultural, structural, medical and other kinds of violence this group faces.”

Emma Chaisson ’24 took home a third-place nod for Student Designer of the Year, with a portfolio of work spanning the eclectic topics of picnic planning, Barbie dolls and that iconic Southern eating place — the Waffle House.

Chaisson cited Oliver as influential in her work’s development. “He is one of those professors that you can tell really cares about helping prepare his students for the ‘real world,’ always introducing us to contests or contacts who could push us even further,” Chaisson said. “He is always willing to give professional advice and help edit a portfolio or resume.”

Oliver praised Chaisson’s talent.

“Emma’s award-winning portfolio included outstanding infographics that showcased her flexibility, creativity and impeccable attention to detail. She is most definitely ‘one to watch’ as she now begins her senior year,” Oliver said. “But all the Hussman SND winners are ‘ones to watch.’ I am once again floored by the amount of talent we have here in Carroll Hall, and these SND wins are just one more testament to the caliber of our students.”

Two UNC Hussman student teams also tied for first-place wins in the Digital Storytelling category — for “Living Galápagos,” a multimedia documentary project produced by the “MEJO 584: International Projects” classes and “Where Rivers Meet, a Carolina Photojournalism Workshop project focusing on western North Carolina.