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AUT bests itself at Best Awards 2025
18 Aug, 2025
This year’s Best Awards finalists include 81 AUT student projects.
The students’ work is shortlisted across Student Animation, Digital, Graphic, Product, Social Good, Spatial and Toitanga design categories.
The number of finalists is up on last year’s 77, which resulted in a record 48 winners – 14 gold, 14 silver and 20 bronze.
Established in the 1970s, the Best Awards are the Design Institute of New Zealand’s annual showcase of excellence and are open to all.
This year’s winner will be announced in Auckland on Friday, 10 October.
The AUT finalists are:
- Charll Enriquez - Airport Dad (2024)
Staff: Emily Ramsay - Lain Pham - Little Roro (2024)
Staff: Emily Ramsay - Shani Walker - No More Vivaldi (2024)
Staff: Emily Ramsay - Joseph Zhang - Priceless (2024)
Staff: Emily Ramsay - Amber Zi Qing He - Shipping Container (2024)
Staff: Emily Ramsay - Sebastian Batty - Vestige (2024)
Staff: Emily Ramsay
- Jessica Ryou - BUD
Staff: Masaya Todoroki , Brooke Walker , Michaela Dodd - Subiksha Rajashkar - Grounded
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Nida Naqvi - Journey to Prometheus
Staff: Keryn Christiansen , James Smith - Jaedon Burgess - Loki
Staff: Keryn Christiansen , James Smith - Jasmine Sidhu - Palate
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Mya Hastings - Reynard The Fox: Become a pilgram in this re-telling of a classic medieval tale
Staff: Keryn Christiansen , James Smith - Luke Mcleod - Rusty Raccoon Taking Out The Trash
Staff: Masaya Todoroki , Brooke Walker , Michaela Dodd - Kevin Cao - stem
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Drew Davies, Dasha Ruzich, Dylan Ye - Syndicate
Staff: Masaya Todoroki , Brooke Walker , Michaela Dodd - Frances Ryder - The Mysterious Dr Danneville
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen
- Kaede Miyata - 10 Hours
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Harriet Neradt - All The Days You Owe Me
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Macy Dyet - Bon Vivant
Staff: Becky Ford , George Hajian - Maia Szecket - Cuando Tenía Tus Años/When I Had Your Years
Staff: Becky Ford , George Hajian - Melody Tan - Cutting Through Time
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Ruby Bird - Dubito Ergo Creo, Creo Ergo Dubito
Staff: Tatiana Tavares , David van Vliet - Michael Lee - Eternal Echoes
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Temima Rigg - Flying Kiwi
Staff: Becky Ford , Tatiana Taveres - Georgia Campbell - F
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Gracielle Del Rosario - Habi
Staff: James Smith , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Ahnes Shim - Hanok that Breathes (숨쉬는 한옥)
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Hikaru Nishikawa - Happy Myil Choco
Staff: Becky Ford , Tatiana Taveres - Jordan Tan - Ko te mauri he mea tahuna i te moana
Staff: Cassie Khoo - Ben Forster - Little Queen Street
Staff: Becky Ford , George Hajian - Daniel Wu - Mosaic Snacks
Staff: Tatiana Taveres , Layla Tweedie Cullen , Fiona Grieve , Becky Ford - Vivan Doan - Nam Type
Staff: Tatiana Tavares , David van Vliet - Kannon Hen - Outside the Moving Window
Staff: Becky Ford , George Hajian - Jo Rico - Recollection: A Curation of Memories
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Sunny Chen - Ruishou in Forbidden City
Staff: Tatiana Tavares , David van Vliet - Matthew Waugh - The Brew Hive
Staff: Tatiana Taveres , Layla Tweedie Cullen , Fiona Grieve , Becky Ford - Izzy McBeth - The Playbook
Staff: Tatiana Tavares , David van Vliet - Caleb Gopal - The Sampled Self
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Kayla Williams - Tools for Type
Staff: George Hajian , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Kayla Williams - Tools for Type
Staff: George Hajian , Layla Tweedie Cullen - Mia Freeman - Different Body
Staff: George Hajian , Tatiana Tavares - Ruby McEvoy - Te Aitanga Pepeke
Staff: Caroline Powley , Becky Ford , Paul Shadbolt - Caitlyn Love - Smachno
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve
- Jacob Smith - Clipit
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Giulia Harper - Cultivate
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Timo van Noppen - Drover
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Vajk Peter - Ember340
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Richard Seaman - EverCloud
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Carlo Worral - Forma Aero-Bars
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Chris Anderson - HELIX
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Joseph Stone - Hydro Voyage
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Daniel Brink - MyoLink
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Rico Choi - plant Me
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Hugo Tucker - Solace
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Deanna Griffin - SORA - In - flight service ware for long-haul ecomomy class
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Paul Brink - Spotter
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Toby Stroobant - The Ewe Chair
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Avalon Martin - Weight of the World
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Timo van Noppen - Drover
Staff: Jyoti Kalyanji , Dan Collings - Niamh Beattie - HealUp
Staff: T'heniel Chetty
- Harriet Neradt - All The Days You Owe Me
Staff: Marcoss Mortensen Steagall , Fiona Grieve - Bryre Dowling - Aroha
Staff: Cassie Khoo , Ivana Nakarada-Kordic , Steve Reay - Vajk Peter - Ember340
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Temima Rigg - Flying Kiwi
Staff: Becky Ford , Tatiana Taveres - Hikaru Nishikawa - Happy Myil Choco
Staff: Becky Ford , Tatiana Taveres - Jordan Tan - Ko te mauri he mea tahuna i te moana
Staff: Cassie Khoo - Matthew Waugh - The Brew Hive
Staff: Tatiana Taveres , Layla Tweedie Cullen , Fiona Grieve , Becky Ford - Avalon Martin - Weight of the World
Staff: Anke Nienhuis , T'heniel Chetty - Mia Freeman - Different Body
Staff: George Hajian , Tatiana Tavares - Sofia Keats - Fifyfifty
Staff: Becky Ford, Fiona Grieve, Layla Tweedie Cullen, Tatiana Tavares
- Grace Fraser - Bead Journey
Staff: Rafik Patel - Daniel John, Ashleigh Clark, Livia Hawkins, Hannah Keppel, Sascha Varnier - Growing Together
Staff: Rachel Carley , Lucy Meyle - Rhianon Stanford, Nina Fox, Jessy Edwards, Stephanie Blows, Nicole Welthagen - Hauhake Hive
Staff: Rachel Carley , Lucy Meyle - Kylie Green Thompson - Mesh
Staff: Sue Gallagher , Frank Liu - Sonia Bennett - Platform 39
Staff: Sue Gallagher , Frank Liu - Davis Wu, Tyson Chan, Marcus Nieves, Julyan Balicao - Retrospect
Staff: Rachel Carley , Lucy Meyle - Mishbah Patel - The Comic Forge
Staff: Sue Gallagher , Frank Liu
- Bryre Dowling - Aroha
Staff: Cassie Khoo , Ivana Nakarada-Kordic , Steve Reay - Jordan Tan - Ko te mauri he mea tahuna i te moana
Staff: Cassie Khoo - Kelys Witty - Te Ao o Arawa
Staff: George Hajian , Layla Tweedie Cullen