Announcing the winner of this year’s Poster Comp, for the Kiwiburn 2027 theme: Moss and Microchips.
The winning design was submitted by Kareena Naran (@designs.by.kareena), so a big thank you and congratulations are in order! The poster will be adapted and used across all the usual swag (wristbands, event guide, stickers etc). Of course, you’ll have to wait until the event to get your hands on them, but they’re going to look primo.
Here’s Kareena’s description of the design: ‘The future of technology is both exciting and unsettling because we do not fully know where it is leading us. We already live between two worlds — the physical and the digital — often spending as much time online as we do in real life, if not more. My poster explores this tension through a surreal dance scene where the figures appear headless, their identities replaced by old music-playing devices. This represents how we can still connect, move, and experience joy away from our phones, yet technology continues to mediate those moments.
In contrast, the figures trapped inside the television screens are melting and distorted, symbolising people who have become consumed by the digital world and struggle to exist without it. They are imprisoned within the devices that were meant to entertain and connect them. The vines weaving through the composition replace wires and cables, suggesting nature reclaiming technology and reminding us that organic connection still has power over artificial systems.
The towering mass of televisions and screens in the background acts as a new mountain range or landscape. Where nature once defined our surroundings, screens now dominate our view of the world. The more we search for meaning, distraction, or connection, the more it leads back to another screen. Through the theme Moss & Microchips, my poster questions how we can exist within technological progress without losing our humanity, our community, and our relationship with the natural world.’
So bring on Kiwiburn 2027! As always, a massive thank you to everyone who submitted a design! If you didn’t win, rest assured all of your designs were fantastic, and we really appreciate the effort you put in.
Image Credit; Kareena Naran (@designs.by.kareena)
