University of East London Homepage

Award-winning UEL comic book stars return to heroes’ welcome

Thursday 24 April 2008

Two award-winning University of East London (UEL) graduates returned to the Docklands campus on Tuesday 15 April for a special celebration aimed at inspiring current students on UEL’s multimedia degrees.

Geoff Gaviria (22), of Beckton, and Matt Gibson (22), of Hertfordshire, won a prestigious British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) Award in November 2007. They topped a talented field to claim the BIMA student prize for their interactive online comic, Dead on Arrival.

Danny Bluestock, Managing Director of leading multimedia design agency Cyber-Duck, where Matt now works, attended the UEL celebration to offer valuable insights into thenew media industry.

Matt, who graduated from UEL with first-class honours in 2007, said: “I feel very proud to be back here tonight. Hopefully, this will be the first BIMA award of many for UEL students. Winning it was a very surreal experience; we were just really happy to be at the ceremony, let alone to win an award.”

Tony Sampson, Programme Leader in Multimedia and Interactive Media at UEL, added: "We’ve had a great evening to celebrate Matt and Geoff’s success at the BIMAs this year. Their award has inspired current students by demonstrating how a successful student project can not only deliver prizes and industry recognition, but also secure work in the sector. I’m very proud of them.”

Matt and Geoff created their innovative comic, inspired by the 1950 film noir DOA, at UEL’s Docklands campus as a final-year project on their BA (Hons) degree in Interactive Media.

The storyline follows the fictional character David Warrington, a university lecturer who has been fatally poisoned and is now slowly dying. David isn't short of enemies, and the comic’s readers/users must help him uncover the true identity of his murderer before his impending demise.

UEL’s BA (Hons) degree in Interactive Media and BSc (Hons) degree in Multimedia offers students the opportunity to undertake an interdisciplinary approach to their study, exploring both theory and creative practice. Key areas covered include interactivity, digitalisation, interface design, social networking and nonlinear communication.

To experience Matt and Geoff’s comic, visit www.dead-on-arrival.co.uk. For further information about innovative programmes available at UEL’s School of Social Sciences, Media and Cultural Studies, visit www.uel.ac.uk.

For details and pictures contact Daniel Cherry: 020 8223 2194

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

Information for screenreader users:

For a general description of these pages and an explanation of how they should work with screenreading equipment please follow this link: Link to general description

For further information on this web site’s accessibility features please follow this link: Link to accessibility information