The winners of the Shu Uemura Design Art Competition (Sudac), besides being Limkokwing University graphic design students, are all young women of the same age and first-time winners in their first competition.

Sudac was created to tap into the minds of aspiring young graphic designers using Shu Uemura make-up as the starting point in artistic creations.

The competition, initiated in May, attracted a large number of students but only 10 made it to the finals after a thorough selection phase in June.

It proved to be a tough fight between the participants, who used creative ingenuity to come up with various design themes.

The winning designs have commercial value as Shu Uemura’s limited-edition art design make-up box collection.

In August, 22-year-old Jenn Tuang Ean Chen was named the grand prize winner while fellow 22-year-olds, Nancy and Catherine Teh Ying Suang, won the first and second runners-up prizes respectively.

Woman’s crowning glory

Tuang drew inspiration from a royal Japanese kimono in a photograph she came across online.

In her winning piece entitled Kisaki, Tuang highlighted the richness of gold, combining red and brown tones to complement her masterpiece.

“The kimono I saw online was very attractive and I wanted to replicate its colours as it was not only regal but had a classic feel to it,” she said.

Second-place winner Nancy, an Indonesian, did research on a woman’s crowning glory to learn how beauty is strongly associated with hair.

Nancy used mixed media, including digital technology, to create her captivating entry that featured hair braids twisting in an explosion of colour.

The attractive plumage of a peacock won Teh the third prize.

“The peacock’s elongated wings are very attractive.

“My entry focused on summer colours featuring warm hues like bright red, green and orange,” she said.

The winners’ visual design artworks were incorporated into limited edition make-up boxes, which were presented together with Shu Uemura’s accredited artist make-up colours selection.

The make-up box contains a lipstick, eyeshadow, blusher and a face chart, assembled and created according to the design theme on the make-up box.

To showcase the new limited edition boxes, Shu Uemura introduced the collection and its designers at a simple showcase at the 1 Utama New Wing in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday last week.

Accredited make-up artists Lisa Yap, Anges Yap and Lavynia Tam each interpreted the colours of the winning designs on models at the event.

The make-up boxes are available at Shu Uemura boutiques at RM373 from November.