A grand slam of victories
DUBBED the “Oscars” of the Malaysian advertising industry, The Kancil Awards 2019 has just wrapped up and it was truly an illustrious occasion.
The awards are divided into two parts namely the Kancil Awards, which sees entries from renowned corporations and organisations and Student Kancil, an opportunity for driven students to send in their work to be assessed by industry experts and win acclaimed awards.
Right after receiving the rank of World’s No. 1 Best Art School (Concept Art & Illustration) in the international Rookie Awards 2019, The One Academy has also made its mark on home ground with recent achievements in the Student Kancil x sCooler Awards 2019 – the largest and most prestigious annual advertising awards celebrating creative works from all over the nation in an effort to recognise home-grown creative excellence.
The institution saw an astounding 99 awards being brought home by the students and lecturers – winning 12 Golds, 18 Silvers, 30 Bronzes, 33 Merits and three Idea of the Year awards.
In addition, it has clinched the honoured Creative School of the Year recognition for two years running in 2018 and 2019.
On top of that, the Student of the Year went to Michael Lim Chung Leong and Lecturer of the Year went to Yan Li Wen, Advertising and Graphic Design Faculty head.
The Gold Awards were received in the categories of: Best Idea for Social Good, Best Film & Audio Craft – Animation, Best Film & Audio Craft – Visual Effects & Motion Graphics, Best Print & Poster: Campaign, Best Film – Video Content, Best Film – Branded Films, Static Visual Aesthetics – Art Direction, Digital Craft – Visual
Design for Digital Platforms, and Digital Craft – User Experience & Journey Design.
This remarkable win stands as a testament that The One Academy is dedicated to producing fine talents all over Malaysia while staying true to its core belief and living up to the motto “Masters Train Masters”.
Tatsun Hoi, the founder and principal of The One Academy, believed that this was the right step in the direction of cementing the organisation as a top creative educational institution of international standards.
The Student of the Year award winner, Michael Lim, relayed his feelings of being surprised when he found out he won.
When asked about the preparations he made for the competition, he said, “I received guidance and advice from lecturers during the process as they helped me to overcome many difficulties. They taught me to not only pay attention to aesthetics, but also to the rationale and meanings of the projects.”
His advice to future participants is to always work hard and do their best to complete the project.
“Don’t be lazy and don’t lack confidence in yourself. If you feel you aren’t good enough, then try to improve and push yourself to your limit,” said Lim.
“It’s an encouragement to remind myself that everything I do to help my students do better work matters in the grand scheme of things.
“I believe our students are the real champions of this year’s show,” shared Yan Li Wen about receiving the Lecturer of the Year award.
Yan also noted that one of the biggest challenges students face when preparing to enter the advertising industry is the “fear that a career in advertising would rob them of their ‘life’, however, people make their sacrifices and take a stand to make their work meaningful to them”.
He then went on to say that this can be overcome when “you see your work as an enabler for you to achieve your goals in life rather than as an obstacle, then it becomes much easier for you to strive and excel in it”.
His word of advice to students in this field is to never rely on luck.
“If you were to participate in any award shows (or do any assignments) – don’t treat it like a lottery game. Winners never depend on luck, and they are at most times, diligently benchmarking themselves against the best possible work that’s out there.
“And if you were to fail, may it be a good one whereby you’ve done everything possible within your capacity to craft a beautiful work with a powerful idea,” he stated.
The One Academy is committed to providing the best art education programmes and continues to nurture its students passionately through its “Masters Train Masters” coaching philosophy, which has been practised for the past 28 years, by providing diploma and degree courses namely Advertising & Graphic Design, Digital Animation, Digital Media Design, Film Visual Effects, Interior Architecture & Design, Illustration, Fine Arts and Paris Fashion Design & Pattern Making.
■ For more information on The One Academy, visit www.toa.edu.my, call 03-7875 5510 or e-mail your enquiries to enquiry@toa.edu.my