How we’re proving CapU is Canada’s top design & illustration school in 2026
It has been a huge year for the IDEA School of Design student awards and scholarships…and we’re just getting started. I don't think "proud" really covers it. From fall 2025 to summer 2026, IDEA students and graduates earned a total of 40+ awards from leading national and international design contests, with additional scholarship results still pending. To all students and instructors involved, thank you. Thank you for your late nights, multiple revisions, and the bravery to showcase your work to a jury. This proves what you're capable of when you believe in yourself, your peers, and the creative vision.
I wanted to bring these wins together in one place to celebrate you, but mostly to kick off the new school year the way I think it should start. It’s about looking at what's possible when we work together. This is not a bar you need to clear, but a reminder of what happens when you commit to the work.
CapU is Canada's Top Design School
— Two Years & Counting
IDEA School of Design at Capilano University has ranked at the very top of the RGD Student Awards two years in a row. The Registered Graphic Designers Student Awards are an industry-juried competition for students from Canada's leading design schools, juried by the country's largest professional design network. In 2026, close to 1000 students applied for these awards. We topped the list outright in 2024 and tied for first again in 2025.
2026 RGD Student Winners from CapU IDEA School of Design
While the 2026 school results won't be published until spring, individual students have already been awarded. Out of 17 award categories, CapU won 7 of them, with Maren Brophy and Siobhan Barry each winning twice! See the full list of 2026 RGD Student Winners
Proof That CapU Prepares Students for Industry Work
The RGD Student Awards are not another popularity contest. Working design professionals judge student work against industry standards.
CapU IDEA School Of Design Wins On The World’s Stage in 2026
Students also went up against design schools from around the globe this year. At Young Ones 2026, one of the most respected student competitions in advertising, interactive, and design work, Louis Yau took silver in Packaging Design for Tōng Bǎo Mooncake Packaging, Keira Schick won bronze in Branding Systems for Vanguard, and Rachel Lu and Rayna Lai earned a merit in UX/UI Design for Pangea, a cultural exchange app. That put Capilano 44th out of 164 schools worldwide. IDEA School of Design at CapU is competing against schools with a lot of name recognition — and winning.
CapU Celebrates 17 Wins At The Applied Arts Magazine Awards
At Applied Arts Magazine's 2026 Student Awards, 11 students from CapU’s IDEA School of Design took home 17 winning projects between them. Students Maren Brophy, Jerry Kambashi, Rachel Lu, and Keira Schick each earned more than one award.
The students marked with a ⭐ earned multiple awards. Congratulations to… Maren Brophy ⭐, Jerry Kambashi ⭐, Rachel Lu ⭐, Keira Schick ⭐, Siobhán Barry, Charis Catotocan, Kayla Do, Emilyn Lai, Sasha Lun, Cameron Skorulski, Tricia Tang. See the full list of winners
“Congratulations, too, on encouraging your students in the IDEA program to enter. Seventeen of the 171 winning entries came from Capilano University IDEA School of Design — a remarkable achievement and a testament to the strength of the program and its students.”
CapU is Canada’s Top Illustration School
And at Rodeo 18, one of the country's leading student photography and illustration competitions, we didn't just place; we swept the entire illustration category. Congratulations to Ryan Coomber, Lily Jones, and Siobhan Barry, as well as the honourable mentions still to be published. See the announcements on Instagram & Facebook.
CapU 2025 Design Professionals of Canada (DESCAN) Achievements
2026 Salazar Awards – 2 wins & 2 honourable mentions
DesCan Vancouver presents the Salazar Awards annually to talented and inspiring student members currently enrolled in design programs in BC. Established in 1985 by the BC Chapter of The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), the award honours Enrique Salazar, who taught graphic design at Capilano College until his passing in June 1985. One student from each category receives a $500 cash prize and a DesCan Salazar Certificate.
IDEA School of Design won the Branding category with the Fruition Movement Brand Identity by Cameron Skorulski, Kayla Do, Emilyn Lai, Leonardo Velazquez Chazaro supported by instructor Paul Brokenshire.
CapU also won the print category with the project The Purrfect Start by Kayla Do, supported by instructor Sepideh Torabi.
Honourable mentions in both the branding and print categories went to Keira Schick for the Vanguard Capstone project, supported by instructors Gae Wakabayashi & Mark Stokoe.
Design Professionals of Canada National Scholarships
Recipients receive scholarship awards that can be applied directly to their tuition fees. The DesCan National Scholarship Awards are funded through the DesCan Foundation and are coordinated by DesCan. Entries were received from across the country and from most educational institutions. In 2026, a select group of Certified Design Professionals™ and DesCan Fellows judged the awards. Judges included Jocelyne Saulnier, CDP™ (Moncton, NB), Blair Thomson, F.DesCan (Mono, ON), Paul Haslip, F.DesCan (Toronto, ON), Andrea Tetrault, F.DesCan (Winnipeg, MB), Paul Tetrault, F.DesCan (Winnipeg, MB), Amanda Schutz, F.DesCan (Edmonton, AB), Johnathon Strebly, F.DesCan (Vancouver, BC) and Josh Nagy, CDP™ (Saskatoon, SK).
In fall 2026, CapU student Shilo Sun, with the project Memory Lane, received the Robert L. Peters Scholarship ($1,000) and an honourable mention for the same project in the pursuit of the Ray Hrynkow Scholarship.
In Fall 2025, CapU Bachelor of Design students Rayna Lai and Rachel Lu received the 2025 DesCan Tiit Telmet Design Scholarship.
2025 Jim Rimmer Scholarship
Some of this year's recognition went to work built around real social impact, and those are the ones that often mean the most. Louis Yau and Jerry Kambashi (BDes Grad 2026) won a $1,000 Jim Rimmer Scholarship for Hope Theatre, a social enterprise project, and Charis Catotocan and Crescille Buyuccan (BDes Grad 2027) earned a Certificate of Honourable Mention for through&through, a 360° fundraising campaign. Both projects used design to push for real action on behalf of vulnerable populations, which is exactly what this scholarship aims to celebrate.
More to come
We're still waiting on the 2026 ADCC Awards and 2026 Jim Rimmer Awards. So this isn't the whole story, just the first part. I'll share the rest as soon as we have it. Behind each of these students is a faculty member or industry mentor who guided the process and challenged every creative decision. Thank you for what you give this program…it truly shows.
To this year's students, both new and returning…
If you're walking into your first semester or your last one, I hope this list does one thing. I hope it shows you what's possible starting today, with the people around you. Set the goals that feel a little out of reach. Make the work you actually care about. The recognition, if it comes, is a bonus, not the reason to do any of it. It is out of love for the creative journey.
Here's to another year worth celebrating!
— Christina
AI transparency: AI was used in the creation of this post. I used Claude Sonnet to turn my written thoughts into a cohesive draft. Through active participation, I revised and rewrote text to create the article you are reading. I believe strongly in active human participation and critical engagement when working with AI. I am conscious of AI harms and do my best to choose how/when to use this tool appropriately. These are my ideas, partially organized with the support of AI.