The Design Professionals of Canada (DesCan) are pleased to announce the Tiit Telmet Design Scholarship.
Tiit Telmet’s impact on the design community is immeasurable through his design practice, his mentorship of countless designers, and his tireless work with DesCan/GDC and RGD. Among his many awards and honours are a DesCan Fellowship, an AGI membership (considered the pinnacle of recognition by your design peers globally), and an Ico-D Excellence award.
A former partner of the international design firm Gottschalk + Ash, Tiit’s design work was powerful and precise, yet understated — ranging from corporate visual identity to packaging to wayfinding to stamp design. His work for Canada Post alone was career-defining — over 90 stamps. Here his gift for design shone the brightest. His reach was felt well beyond the design community and into the lives of everyday Canadians as countless pieces of mail had one of his stamps in the top right corner.
Tiit passed away in January 2025, and with the support of his family, DesCan is pleased to introduce an annual scholarship in his name. The annual $1,000 award is open to all DesCan Student members currently enrolled in a design program at a Canadian post-secondary institution.
Entrants are asked to submit projects focused on cultural or environmental design, two of Tiit’s most passionate areas of design practice. The submissions should be in the form of a case study, with a clearly articulated background, criteria, rationale and high-resolution images of the student’s design solution.
Detailed submission requirements:
- Student is enrolled in a full-time graphic/communication design program at a Canadian post-secondary college/university and is returning to continue full-time studies in a graphic/communication design program at a Canadian post-secondary college/university, or, student has been admitted to a full-time first-year graphic/communication design program at a Canadian post-secondary college/university.
- One design project — with a focus on cultural or environmental design — with supporting research
- Description and rationale for the design project submitted (300 words maximum)
- Letter of recommendation from an educator/instructor
- Transcript of grades (unofficial records from the institution are acceptable)
- Personal statement outlining the reasons for applying and future career goals (300 words). Include your contact information including name, mailing address, phone, and email address
Application must be submitted as one PDF containing all submission requirements. Apply through descan.ca/scholarships
The deadline for entries is May 31, 2025. The winner and honourable mentions will be announced in the summer of 2025.
To donate to the Tiit Telmet Design Scholarship fund, or to other DesCan scholarships please go to https://descan.ca/foundation/
About Tiit Telmet
descan.ca/fellow/tiit-telmet/
About DesCan
The Design Professionals of Canada, formerly the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC), has been an advocacy-based organization for almost 70 years. Since its inception in 1956, it has continued to advance professional design and has cemented itself as a leader and supporter of the Canadian design profession.
From branding to education, from UX to UI, from application design to placemaking — the design communications industry boasts many overlapping areas of practice and expertise. We are a nationwide organization and community of design professionals, educators, design students, and businesses. Members come together through a vibrant chapter model across the country. The DesCan community also represents non-design professionals such as photographers, illustrators, copywriters and alike.
DesCan has formal chapters in ten cities throughout Canada and members across the entire country.
Contact
For more information please contact Melanie MacDonald, Executive Director at director@descan.ca.