Waterproof Speakers + Students Create: New Talent Winners and Latest Entries

Speakers practically swim, while design students do what they do best and create with these winning works from last year and our newest New Talent entries.

From 2022, this Platinum-winning print campaign was designed by Syracuse University, Newhouse student Victoria Lin. “Splashing the Beats” (above) promotes JBL’s latest portable Bluetooth speakers with a new and innovative take. Playing off on the speaker’s waterproof design, Lin found a way to incorporate it into common water-related activities, whether that be taking a bath, floating in the pool, or even kayaking in the ocean. However, instead of just featuring the speakers in these scenes, Lin took the tub, pool, and kayak and replaced them with different models of the speaker. Now instead of a woman bathing in a tub, she’s bathing in a red JBL speaker, and in place of a kayak, a woman paddles in JBL’s mustard-colored speaker. Near the corner of each image, a slogan reads “The speaker that never drowns. Built to be with water.” By incorporating the speakers as different objects, Lin was able to highlight both its waterproof and portable design, and also encourage the audience to enjoy the extra pleasure brought by JBL speakers.

The Tyler School of Art is based at Temple University, housing a wide variety of academic degree programs, including painting, drawing, sculpting, printmaking, ceramics, photography, and design. Every year, the program’s graduating class participates in a portfolio review event where they show their work to the school and have the opportunity to receive feedback and network with alumni and prospective employers. To help promote the event, graphic design students Kylie Baker, Phillip Le, Cam Vy, Riya Dindigal, Scarlet Morgan, and Khalani Miller partnered up to make marketing collateral for this year’s event, “Create“(above). Featuring the mock-ups of a new event logo, potential social media posts, and website designs, the students devised a way to both present graduate’s body of work and stimulate interest in the event. Each mock-up is made of an electric color palette carefully selected by the students, geometric shapes, and creative layouts that work perfectly to present each student’s portfolio without diverting attention from the designs it’s presenting.

Want to see more 2022 work? Click here. And if you are a student who is interested in submitting your work to our 2023 New Talent competition, click here to learn more.