December 20, 2007 - 7:11am
Students in Malaspina University-College's Applied Graphics program recently had the opportunity to design and present projects suggesting a new decal scheme for the logging and forestry products of Madill Equipment in Nanaimo.
Madill approached Malaspina Applied Graphics professor Rick Conroy to help solve the graphics problem and were very pleased with the results.
"The students did a great job," said Conroy. "They were very inventive and worked their hearts out."
Madill approached Malaspina eight weeks ago and gave Conroy and his students a list of criteria they had to stick to in their presentations. The 19 students worked in groups and as individuals, developing imaginative solutions to suit Madill's needs.
"This is the kind of project we are known for," said Conroy. "We've done projects with Mayo Wood Products, Weyerhaeuser and Milner Gardens. I like taking the students in way over their heads and seeing them come out with success stories."
They made their presentations in the Madill boardroom on December 12. Malaspina students Josh Nychuk and Matthew Jamont took first place and were thrilled to win.
"It was really exciting," said Nychuk. "It's a huge thing for us to be able to put this in our portfolio. It's a huge recognition piece to have work on machines that will be sold in six countries."
Nychuk, a second year applied graphics student, and his project partner Matthew Jamont, actually broke the rules and ignored one of Madill's criteria when preparing their presentation.
"It wasn't part of the project to redesign Madill's logo, but we thought it would be a good angle to take. We only made a small modification to their logo to make it more readable, but they loved it and will be using it on their machines. We're really proud."
"The students did extremely well," said Rich Enners, President and CEO of Madill Equipment. "I think that's indicative of three things - the professional and thorough guidance of Rick Conroy, the calibre of the graphics program at Malaspina and the calibre of the students involved. Our staff and management team were very pleased with the designs as well as the presentations."
Madill Equipment was founded in 1911 in Nanaimo as a manufacturer of equipment to support the coal mining industry. In the 1960's, it began developing equipment to serve the logging industry. Now, they are a premiere manufacturer of logging and forestry equipment whose products are sold worldwide. Approaching Malaspina to help with the new decals for that equipment seemed like an easy choice for Enners.
"We knew Malaspina had an excellent graphics program with a solid curriculum. As a community partner, we wanted to give those students the opportunity to present their ideas to us and get some real-life experience. Everyone did a great job. We were very impressed," he said.
Enners and Madill were so impressed with the projects that they decided to combine the efforts of the top two teams and come up with a way to use both sets of ideas. The second place team consisted of Josephine Duffy and Natasha Mansueti. The next phase to the project is in January, when students will put the final touches on the design, have them put into production and see them incorporated at trade shows in February.
Other presentation winners included Bobbie Cann, Cory Cleaver and Stu Johnson, who took third place, while Sarita Mielke and Christina Taylor received an award for best presentation.
For more information on the collaborative project between Malaspina and Madill Equipment, or the Applied Graphics Program, please contact Rick Conroy at 753-3245 (local 2445) or conroyr@viu.ca
Tags: In the Community
