A couple from Navarra is at the head of a ranking in Graphic Design
Iker Cía is number 1 and Leyre Chordá is number 4 in the Spanish Award for Academic Excellence
Updated on 01/10/2022 at 11:00 The Spanish Academy of Academic Excellence (SEDEA) is an entity that, in short, is dedicated to putting the icing on the best university curricula in the country. This is what she herself points out, explaining that her main mission is to identify the best graduates of each year and accredit them as such. Iker Adalid Cía, from Pamplona, 23, and Leyre Chordá Martínez, 22, from Tafalla, did not know that it existed this organization. They have been dating since they were doing Bachelor of Arts. Leyre's mother is a counselor and she recommended the world of design to them in her day because she understood that it was the most technical and scientific within art, which is what Iker liked, and where Leyre also fit in very well. Thus, they studied Graphic Design together at the Superior School of Design in La Rioja. Last year they finished the degree and because of their good grades they were told that they could opt to enter the SEDEA. They did so and after a few weeks the surprise arrived. “They told us that due to our average grades, merits and different courses they had selected us for the national ranking”, explains Iker Cía. This classification is the way in which SEDEA lists the best students in the country in the different careers. Leyre Chordá came in fourth place in the Graphic Design category; Iker Cía, the first. "We are around 9 average marks, and besides, the two of us have won a contest and have participated in several seminars, all of that is taken into account," says Iker Cía. To access this national ranking -thousands of students have done so this year- the basis is to be a university graduate, with an average grade above 8, and then points are added for scholarships for study abroad, research, collaboration, extracurricular internships, prizes, workshops, languages, publications, etc. And what is it for? “Apart from the fact that you access a job bank, it is something that later appears on your resume and in the end it is another piece of information that shows that you were a good student and have good knowledge; At the level of Spain, it is the data that most assures that you have really been a good student”, explains Leyre Chordá. “It has a lot of weight”, certifies Iker Cía. "Every year there is also a gala in Salamanca and all the people who have appeared in the ranking come to collect a diploma, but this year due to the pandemic it has not been possible," he adds.'CHRISTMAS' BY THE PRESIDENTCurrently the two are immersed in different master's degrees in Barcelona and, simultaneously, they work in two studios in Barcelona. Leyre Chordá is studying a Master's Degree in Art Direction in Advertising at FCRI Blanquerna while doing internships at the Road advertising agency. Iker Cía, meanwhile, is doing a double master's degree, on the one hand in user interface design, - "screen design, everything that can appear in an ATM or on television", he explains -, and, on the other, in art direction focused mainly on graphic design. In addition, he is doing internships in a studio called Mucho.Despite their youth, both have already made significant achievements in their careers. In second grade, the whole class participated in a contest organized by the Government of La Rioja to design the poster for Book Day. "That day, in many bookstores in La Rioja, if you buy a book, they give you a small bottle of wine and they make a poster to promote it, which also goes on the label of the wine they give you," explains Leyre Chordá, who won the contest and his poster could be seen throughout Logroño. In addition, thanks to this, he had access to design the institutional Christmas greeting card for the president of La Rioja at last year's festivities. Iker Cía, meanwhile, won a contest a few years ago that was held between various centers in Spain and from Poland for a multimedia creation for which a kind of video clip had to be designed. "I was the winner together with a colleague in first place, they took us to Poland and it was very good," he recalls. Looking to the future, they would like to stay in Barcelona or in a big city, although they do not rule out setting up a small studio in Pamplona one day . "We want to gain experience in studios or advertising agencies that already have more experience and in the long run we imagine ourselves working together in a studio," says Leyre Chordá. Iker Cía prefers design focused on the more technical and scientific part, in the line of Neri Oxman, from the MIT Media Lab, who invented, for example, the 3D glass printer. "She does some things that seem incredible to me. If I get to 10% of what she is, I'd be happy," she says. Leyre Chordá prefers editorial design, fashion and advertising. “Ever since I was little, I used to go to YouTube to look for the best ads of 2010, for example, and I saw them all,” she recalls. LABELS CommentsWe recommend that before commenting, you read the rules of participation of Diario de Navarra
CLOSEVIEW CAPTION PHOTO
