Honolulu students win big at the 2012 Pele Awards

Zachary Lagrimas brings home the gold for the college's Communication Arts program

Honolulu Community College
Contact:
Billie K T Lueder, (808) 845-9187
Communications and External Affairs, Chancellor's Office
Posted: Apr 26, 2012

Zachary Lagrimas wins Pele Gold with his entry "Arbor Tea Presentation Box".
Zachary Lagrimas wins Pele Gold with his entry "Arbor Tea Presentation Box".
L-R: Honolulu's Roque (Silver), Lagrimas (Gold), Dela Cruz (Silver), Pesquira (Bronze).
L-R: Honolulu's Roque (Silver), Lagrimas (Gold), Dela Cruz (Silver), Pesquira (Bronze).
The Pele Awards for designers is what the Oscars are for actors. Sponsored by the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the annual competition recognizes the best advertising and design work created in Hawai‘i. On Saturday, April 21 the distinguished Pele award came back to Honolulu Community College.
 
Twelve of the last 15 years of entering the Pele’s, Honolulu CC has brought home the award in the student division. Of the 30 entries in this year’s division, only six were named as finalists – four from Honolulu CC, one from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, and one from Kapi‘olani Community College. Honolulu Community College’s Zachary Lagrimas won Pele Gold while his Honolulu peers Arnel Dela Cruz and Jillian Roque captured the Silver and Dwayne Pesquira took the Bronze.
 
“This just goes to show that our two-year Communication Arts program can compete with four-year institutions and surpass them with professional grade work,” explains Sandra Sanpei, professor of Honolulu’s Communication Arts program. “The core of what we teach in the program is design. With design as your foundation, students can do anything – web, print, packaging – they can transcend all avenues of media.”
 
And the winners are…
 
Zachary Lagrimas was overwhelmed when his name was called as this year’s Pele Student Division winner. His entry “Arbor Tea Packaging Box” elevated the Michigan based organic tea company to the next level by suggesting a higher end presentation of their product to potential customers.
 
Working with Honolulu’s Print Shop manager Glenn Matsumoto, Lagrimas had the cover of the wooden box laser engraved with the Arbor Tea logo. A laser engraved description of the company on a wood panel was also inserted into the inside cover of the box. Lagrimas’s winning entry will move on to the national competition.
 
Having graduated from Pearl City High School in 2002 Jillian Roque had gone on to complete her undergraduate degree in Biology. She was half way through her Masters of Science program at Manoa when she realized that her true passion was not science, but art.
 
She returned to school in the Communication Arts program at Honolulu, and in her first year achieved a Pele Silver distinction. Her “Urban Woods Brochure” entry was an impressive hardbound booklet that incorporated the company’s philosophy of transforming reclaimed garbage into beautiful furniture pieces. Using dissolving puzzles the interactive brochure was a visual delight for the judges.
 
“We are really close. We have suffered together, learned from one another, and have developed close relationships with our instructors because of the small class sizes. That has been an added benefit for me as a student,” said Roque.
 
An avid surfer, Dwayne Pesquira, designed a logo for the Surfrider Foundation. The final logo design was not his first choice, but with the guidance of his instructor he flushed out the artwork, which was awarded the Bronze. The heart shape logo blends a wave and hand to represent the foundation’s core value of protecting the enjoyment of the world’s oceans and beaches. He repurposed a home security sign, stuck it in the sand of a surfing spot he often frequents to create a visual story in a one page advertisement he designed to show the simplistic impact of the logo.
 
“I was frightened,” shares Arnel Dela Cruz about his experience accepting the honor of Silver at this year’s Pele Awards Dinner. His “TerraMai Brochure” cleverly uses architectural angels and texture to capture the reclaimed wood principle of the company. Using a Japanese binding method, the brochure was hand bound using twine. The Farrington graduate will be receiving his degree along side Lagrimas at the May 11 commencement ceremony with the hopes of becoming a creative director with an advertising firm while Lagriamas aspires to work in animation.
 
On Wednesday, May 2, Lagrimas, Dela Cruz and 13 other communication art seniors will show off their hard work at a portfolio showcase entitled, Impossible. From 3:30-8 p.m. in the Norman W.H. Loui Conference Center (Bldg. 2, Room 201), the cohort and their portfolios will be on display. The who’s who in the Hawai‘i design community are expected to be present resulting in internship and job opportunities. These students are true examples of making the impossible, possible.
 

For more information, visit: http://wearepossible.com