Last night a capacity crowd filled the INLITE showroom in Richmond to celebrate the sixth Graduate of the Year Awards (GOTYA). Students, teachers, sponsors, design aficionados and members of the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) came together to applaud the winners, the names of whom were announced by Dominic Russo, DIA Victoria Tasmania President.

The DIA established GOTYA in support of students across the design disciplines of Graphic Design, Industrial Design, Furniture Design, Jewellery Design, Textile & Fashion Design, Interior Design and Interior Design & Decoration. A panel of judges from those disciplines assess the anonymous submissions. The winners and runner ups are chosen from a list of up to four shortlisted finalists. Winners from the Victorian/Tasmanian Awards are automatically entered into the DIA Australasian Graduate of the year Awards with the overall winners to be announced at designEX in Sydney in May.

Nine participating Victorian and Tasmanian Tertiary Institutes including Academy of Design Australia, Box Hill Institute, Grenadi School of Design, Monash University, NMIT – Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, The Gordon and University of Tasmania nominated their most talented 2013 graduates to participate this year. Congratulations to all those who entered and accolades to the winners.

Overall Graduate of the Year was Anna Pogorelova, Swinburne University of Technology

Interior Design
Graduate of the Year – Anna Pogorelova, Swinburne University of Technology
Runner Up – Harriet Collins, Monash University

Interior Design & Decoration
Graduate of the Year – Hoda Afra, RMIT University
Runner Up – Lynette Lohrey, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE

Industrial Design
Graduate of the Year – Andrew Godin, Monash University Richard Benson, RMIT University
Runner Up – Richard Benson, RMIT University

Furniture Design
Graduate of the Year – Matthew Pearson, University of Tasmania Ed Turner, RMIT University
Runner Up – Ed Turner, RMIT University

Jewellery Design
Graduate of the Year – Bethwyn Mell, RMIT University
Jeremy Bryant, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE
Runner Up – Jeremy Bryant, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE

Graphic Design
Graduate of the Year – James Silvestro, Swinburne University of Technology
Runner Up – Will McKenzie, Swinburne University of Technology

Fashion and Textile Design
Graduate of the Year – Michelle Catling, Academy of Design Australia
Runner Up – Rachel McGuigan, RMIT University

Colourways Colour Award
Hoda Afra, RMIT University