A Breakthrough Year for Van Lang University’s Faculty of Arts & Design on the International Arena

The year 2025 marked a major milestone for the Faculty of Arts & Design at Van Lang University, as our students and alumni achieved a series of impressive victories at prestigious international competitions including graphic design, architecture and interior design, fashion, digital art, and film and media. These successes reflect sustained investment in academic quality, the boundless creativity of students, and a training framework closely aligned with international standards. 

In addition, 2025 became even more meaningful when the Faculty of Arts & Design was ranked by QS World University Rankings xếp hạng 51–100 thế giới về Nghệ thuật trình diễn và 101–150 về Thiết kế.

ACDC 2025 (Asian Culture Design Contest) is a prestigious international design competition centered on Asian cultural identities, organized by the Asian Academy of Culture in collaboration with regional universities. The competition encourages students and young designers to present creative ideas that integrate traditional cultural identity with contemporary design while exploring the values of heritage, landscapes, products, interiors, and architecture, aiming to promote sustainable development and remain relevant within today’s rapidly urbanizing and technology-driven context. In addition, ACDC serves as an academic forum where participants have the opportunity to connect, exchange knowledge, learn international design standards, and enhance their professional skills within a globally competitive environment.

Asia Young Designer Awards 2025 (AYDA 2025)is one of Asia’s leading competitions in architecture and interior design, organized by the Nippon Paint Group aiming to discover and honor young talents with high potential for practical application and innovative projects. At this competition, Nghe Gia Vien (Artists’ Heritage Care Residence), a project by Nguyen Thao Vy (Class 27, Interior Design), won Second Prize, the project proposes a therapeutic living space that combines traditional materials with open spatial design, while preserving cultural values and fostering connections between generations of Don Ca Tai Tu and Cai Luong artists.

Van Lang University students recorded remarkable success by winning the four highest awards at the Pierre Cardin Young Designers Award 2025, a prestigious international fashion competition organized by La Maison Pierre Cardin. Notably, 2025 marked the first time the competition was held in Vietnam, providing opportunities for students to access international haute couture standards and developing distinct creative identities while learning to apply brand language, pattern-making techniques, material selection, and professional runway presentation.

EVSDA 2025 the EU–Vietnam Sustainable Design Award, initiated by the European Union, seeks to promote and recognize sustainable design solutions in Vietnam while connecting the local design community with European green standards. At the 2025 awards, Ngo Hoang Dung (Class 27, Graphic Design) was honored with the Emerging Designer Award. Beyond the framework of a student project, the project “GAP GAP” was submitted to an international competition as a means of assessing its practical relevance and conceptual approach, thereby bringing the project to the public for evaluation and comparison.

In the field of Graphic Design, Van Lang University students continued to demonstrate strong international competitiveness across numerous global competitions. 

At the BLUE Awards 2025, students earned distinctions such as Special Selection Winner and Honorable Mention Finalist, reflecting their aesthetic taste, compositional skills, typography, and effective visual communication aligned with international standards. 

Similarly, at the ACP World Championship 2025, an internationally recognized graphic design competition organized annually by Certiport, where contestants are required to make practical products within a limited timeframe (typically 5–6 hours), Phan Thi Khanh Nam (Class 28, Graphic Design) won Second Prize, while Le Trieu Phi (Class 30, Graphic Design) received an Encouragement Prize. The competition demands proficiency in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, as well as the ability to create a design project with internationally recognized standards in layout, color, typography, and communication messaging while working under significant time pressure.

In the field of Digital Art and Animation, TISDC 2025 (Taiwan International Student Design Competition)—one of the world’s largest student design competitions, organized by Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, attracting tens of thousands of submissions worldwide—recognized a group of Class 27 students from the Digital Art and Design major with a Bronze Award in the Digital Animation category. The team demonstrated strong competencies in storytelling, character performance,  2D/3D animation and sound design, highlighting effective multi-role teamwork and an international-standard approach in Animation and Media Arts.

In the field of film and media, ISMA 2025 (International Student Media Arts Festival) is an annual international student film festival that was held in Vietnam for the first time, hosted by Van Lang University. The festival attracted nearly 100 universities from 15 countries. This is a prestigious platform for students in contemporary arts and media disciplines with categories focus on AI-based films, New Media Art, and Short Films, reflecting emerging directions in digital media. Van Lang University students received multiple awards across these categories, earning recognition for their work from concept development, casting, filming, and post-production to festival pitching, while demonstrating their creativity and professional expertise at an international standard.

Beyond competition, ISMA provides students with comprehensive exposure to the filmmaking process, from script development and casting to filming, post-production, and professional pitching, thereby strengthening both professional competencies and experience in international event organization.

The international awards earned by Arts & Design students reflect both individual creativity and the outcomes of a professional, interdisciplinary training environment that closely integrates academic learning with practical application. These achievements expand opportunities for careers, international collaboration, and global learning, while reinforcing the Faculty’s position on the regional and global creative and design map.

News: Thanh Man
Photos: Complied