Four VCC Graphic Design students placed sixth out of 40 teams at For The Love of UI (FLUI), one of Vancouver's largest design competitions, hosted by Emily Carr University of Art and Design.
The hackathon brought together over 150 participants from colleges and universities across the region. The VCC team, consisting of second-years Annamaria Negri, Kaitlin Byrne, Desiree Yeung, and Joey Anatalio, won a special award for their iteration process. They had just three days to completely redesign a client's website, aiming for a more modern, unified, and engaging user experience.
"We're beyond proud of what we achieved," said Annamaria. "While everyone else was on their reading break, we juggled the hackathon with classes and schoolwork, running on little sleep, high energy, and constant iteration. But every moment was worth it! It was fun and intense at the same time."
Team VCC stood out for their work on usability testing before and after the redesign process, ensuring the final product was intuitive, polished, and user-friendly.
"What's great about our students is that you can show them the opportunity and the basics, and then they run with it and make it their own," said VCC instructor Jon Bantados, who told his students of the hackathon event.
"I'm very proud of what the team was able to achieve in such a short amount of time and under so much pressure," said Elaine Smith, VCC instructional assistant of Digital Media and Design. "They worked brilliantly as a team considering they were at the beginning of their program compared to their more advanced competitors."
The hackathon is a chance for students and up-and-coming design professionals to showcase their excellence, skills, and receive mentorship from industry members.
