Two students at UH West Oʻahu won silver awards in the college category of the 2021 Pele Awards. They join students from three University of Hawaiʻi campuses to take home awards at the virtual show on June 5.
Creative Media student Sanako Saito earned her award in the Integrated Brand Identity Campaign for her logo for “Opaque,” and Erica Faith Lactaoen, a member of the Early College program at Waipahu High School, placed in the Music & Sound Design category for “You & Me”.
Both drew upon their personal experiences, talent, and creative preferences.
Saito, a 2015 graduate of Kalani High School, finished the Kapiʻolani Community College New Media Arts (NMA) Interface Design program in Fall 2019, then transferred to UH West Oʻahu. She followed her passion for art in pursuing her degree in Creative Media.
“I enjoyed what I was doing and I could try hard to create something good compared to other classes that I couldn’t fully dedicate myself to,” she said.
Saito, who is originally from Saitama in Japan, said that winning a PELE award was one of her goals. Next, she said, is to surpass her silver award with a gold. Her career goals include using her design talents and Japanese language to support Japanese tourism in Hawaiʻi.
Her award-winning project was a restaurant logo design project from a creative strategy class. She chose a Los Angeles restaurant called ʻOpaqueʻ that serves food in the dark, so customers can enjoy the taste, smell, and texture of the food more.
“I was having a hard time finding how to create something ‘invisible’ visible,” said Saito, who added that the color choice was important.
Lactaoen, who will graduate from Waipahu High School in 2022, created “You & Me” for a class assignment to create an audio commercial to debunk the myths and rumors of COVID-19.
“I’ve always loved creating music, but I never had the chance to put any focus on my interests for my entire high school career; so, I decided that since I wasn’t able to ‘waste’ any regular school electives on what I wanted, I chose to devote my extra time to taking this Early College (C153) class,” she said.
She composed “You and Me” by envisioning what sounds would express the stress of dealing with the restrictions due to COVID-19.
“The saying ‘We’re all in this together’ had a strong meaning to me,” she said. “I thought if we all worked together by abiding by what the CDC told us, our recovery process would be much shorter than predicted.”
She said she was “genuinely” shocked when she won her silver award. It gives her confidence to continue pursuing art and music.
“After this achievement, all I could think about is how I’d be able to make a positive impact in society with what I create,” she said.