Graduates of the Year Awards 2024 winners announced
DIA – Awards
• The Gotya program part of the Designers Australia Awards, has been mentoring students for almost two decades and was created to support and celebrate exceptional designers from around Australia in the early stages of their careers.
The Design Institute of Australia announced the winners of its flagship program for emerging designers—the Graduates of the Year Awards (GOTYA) 2024. From a cohort of 126 nominees, 60 were shortlisted and the following nominees awarded.
It is important to note that simply by being nominated, these design graduates have already proven themselves to be ahead of the pack, high achievers identified and elevated by their educators. Thank you to our educational institutions for supporting this program.
We thank our major partner, Stylecraft, who has generously supported the program over the years and co-hosted the GOTYA events in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney with us.
National Category Winners
PLACE – Higher Education winner
Xingchen Fan, Monash University, VIC
PLACE – Vocational winner
Jacek Ciok, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University, NSW
USE – Higher Education winner
Maoxin Yuan, University of New South Wales, NSW
USE – Vocational winner
Kaspian Kan, RMIT University, VIC
INTERACT – Higher Education winner
Kyla Little, Griffith University, QLD
INTERACT – Vocational winner
Holly Theissen, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University, NSW
Maoxin Yuan, University of New South Wales, NSW
NSW / ACT State Winners
NSW / ACT Graduate of the Year
Maoxin Yuan, University of New South Wales
PLACE – Vocational
Winner
Jacek Ciok, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
High Commendation
Jasmine Kanyanee Rumsey, TAFE NSW Lidcombe Design College
Commendations
Claudia Do, TAFE Design Centre Enmore
Randy Balot, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
Amy Ryan, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
Alexandra Mills, Sydney Design School
Mahtab Nezafat, TAFE NSW Lidcombe Design College
PLACE – Higher Education
Winner
Apryll Robertson, TAFE Design Centre Enmore
Commendations
Eamon White, University of New South Wales
Jenna Fisher, University of New South Wales
Lin Lin Win Tun, University of New South Wales
Rachel Jacobs, University of New South Wales
USE – Higher Education
Winner
Maoxin Yuan, University of New South Wales
Commendation
Damian Hinze, University of Technology Sydney
Luka Heeraman, University of New South Wales
Bradley Matthews, University of Technology Sydney
Ecem Dik, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
Maxine Franz, University of Technology Sydney
INTERACT – Vocational
Winner
Holly Theissen, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
INTERACT – Higher Education
Winner
Andrei Cabaero, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
Commendations
Rachel Armstrong, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
Alicia Devereaux, Holly Theissen, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
Kyla Little, Griffith University, QLD
QLD State Winners
QLD Graduate of the Year
Kyla Little, Griffith University
PLACE – Vocational
Winner
Vy Nguyen, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
PLACE – Higher Education
Winner
Bek Germein, Queensland University of Technology
Commendation
Chevorn Mason, Billy Blue College of Design at Torrens University
USE – Higher Education
Winner
Jan Bekker, Queensland University of Technology
Commendation
Carol Ding, Queensland University of Technology
INTERACT – Higher Education
Winner
Kyla Little, Griffith University
High Commendation
Caitlin Turner, Queensland University of Technology
Commendations
Jan Pimping, Griffith University
Rhianna Pearce, Griffith University
Zenith Zaccara, University of South Australia, SA
SA / NT State Winners
SA Graduate of the Year
Zenith Zaccara, University of South Australia
PLACE – Higher Education
Winner
Natasha Hutton, University of South Australia
Commendation
Jake Lane, University of South Australia
USE – Higher Education
Winner
Zenith Zaccara, University of South Australia
Xingchen Fan, Monash University, VIC
VIC / TAS State Winners
VIC / TAS Graduate of the Year
Xingchen Fan, Monash University
PLACE – Vocational
Winner
Wenting Ma, RMIT University
Commendations
Vivian (Chunrui) Li, RMIT University
Ruby Shields, RMIT University
Tirada Sriwattana, RMIT University
PLACE – Higher Education
Winner
Xingchen Fan, Monash University
High Commendations
Anh Tran, RMIT University
Haojun Guan, Monash University
Commendations
Zoe Wiley, Australian College of the Arts
Angel Chee, Monash University
Joelle Rose, Monash University
USE – Vocational
Winner
Kaspian Kan, RMIT University
Commendation
Casey Lay, RMIT University
USE – Higher Education
Winner
Maya Schwalb, RMIT University
Commendations
Thea Davey, Swinburne University of Technology
Alexandra Groves, RMIT University
INTERACT – Higher Education
Winner
Julia Howe, LCI Melbourne
Commendations
Davide Colosio, LCI Melbourne
Jordan Giles, Swinburne University of Technology
Grace Russell, Swinburne University of Technology
Krystal Inosa, Curtin University, WA
WA State Winners
WA Graduate of the Year
Krystal Inosa, Curtin University
PLACE – Vocational
Winner
Bonnie Machell, North Metropolitan TAFE
PLACE – Higher Education
Winner
Krystal Inosa, Curtin University
USE – Vocational
Winner
Hannah Fujinami, North Metropolitan TAFE
Commendations
Reid Duncan, North Metropolitan TAFE
Nathan Goulios, North Metropolitan TAFE
USE – Higher Education
Winner
Fraser Cameron, Curtin University
INTERACT – Vocational
Winner
Bronte Maddren, North Metropolitan TAFE
The Gotya, Madeleine Lester Award 2024 recipient will be named on Thursday, 14 November, in Melbourne to coincide with the Designers Australia Awards 2024 major category winners and the recipient of the President's Prize announcement.
