Student T-Shirt Design Competition's Winner
From commute to campus: Meet AUT’s T-shirt design winner
What started as a daily commute to AUT has now become a T-shirt and a $1000 prize.
Congratulations to Mika Turnbull, the winner of AUT’s 2026 T-shirt design competition.
Mika, an Oral Health student’s winning design was inspired by the journeys we all take. Stemming from her daily commute to AUT, her design reflects the different journeys people are on when they arrive at AUT- whether they’re fresh out of school, returning to study, changing direction, juggling work and study, or somewhere completely different.
One of the constants on any journey is flora and fauna and Mika drew on this for her winning design.
“Flora and Fauna are one of the things that are always there no matter what journey you’re on. It’s unifying and something I think we should take the time to observe, appreciate and reflect on.”
Her design is accompanied by the whakatauki:
“Whāia te iti kahurangi, ki te tuohu koe, me he maunga teitei.”
This whakatauki speaks to the perseverance and endurance we invoke as we strive towards our goals.
There’s a message behind Mika’s design too: “I hope this design reflects the diversity of current students, staff, alumni and members of AUT and encourages them to remember that their effort through their mahi is something to recognise and celebrate no matter how big or small.”
A tough call for the judges
Mika’s design was selected by a judging panel made up of:
- Damon Salesa, Vice-Chancellor
- Amy Malcolm, Assistant Vice-Chancellor – Engagement & Head of VC’s Office
- Cecelia Faumuina, Head of Department, Communication Design
- James Portrgys, AUTSA President
- Remko de Jong, Design Manager, Brand & Marketing
- David Green, Commercial Services Director
- Yoyo Fu, AUT Retail & Hospitality Business Manager
The panel assessed entries on creativity and originality, how well they captured AUT’s identity, appeal to the AUT community, suitability for merchandise and the quality of each design concept.
From idea to actual T-shirt
Mika's winning design will become a limited-edition AUT T-shirt - her beautiful design T-shirt : Whāia T-shirt, available at the AUT Shop (in WH building) from now.
Mika also takes home the $1,000 competition prize and profits from the sale of the T-shirts will go to the AUT Foundation Student Support Fund.
Congratulations, Mika! And to everyone who entered: thanks for putting your creativity out there. We reckon AUT is going to look pretty good in these.
