JTB Studios Wins Three Australian Web Awards for VCASS
The best digital work earns recognition not because it looks impressive in isolation, but because it solves a real problem with precision and care. Three wins at the Australian Web Awards 2026, including the McFarlane Prize for Excellence, the award’s highest honour, is a reflection of exactly that.
Our award winning website for Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School took home the McFarlane Prize for Site of the Year, Best in Show for User Experience, and Best Headless Website. Three categories. One project. A shared commitment to building something that genuinely serves its audience.
A school unlike any other
VCASS is a specialist government school operating at the intersection of academic rigour and world-class arts training. Its students pursue excellence across Dance, Music, Theatre Arts, and Visual Arts. Its digital presence needed to reflect that.
When VCASS engaged JTB, the brief was clear: modernise the brand, build a scalable platform, and create a digital experience that communicates the school’s unique position with clarity and confidence. The existing website no longer reflected the calibre of what VCASS had become.
What we built
We began with brand, refining the VCASS logo and establishing a visual and typographic system that allows each artistic discipline to feel distinct while remaining part of a unified identity. That foundation shaped every subsequent decision.
The site is built on a headless architecture, delivering the performance, flexibility, and longevity a forward-facing institution requires. The UX framework was designed around the people who matter most: prospective students, families, and educators navigating programs, pathways, and enrolment. Every decision was made through a commercial lens, reducing friction, improving conversion, and ensuring staff could manage the platform with confidence long after launch.
Why the McFarlane Prize matters
Named in memory of Australian web pioneer Nigel McFarlane, the McFarlane Prize recognises the entry that performs best across all six judging disciplines: accessibility, content, design, development, user experience, and SEO. It is not awarded for a single standout quality. It is awarded for the sum of a site’s parts.
Winning it alongside Best in Show for User Experience and Best Headless Website affirms that the VCASS project did not excel in one dimension at the expense of others. It performed at the highest level across the board.
From the team
The VCASS project was led by David Kennedy (Lead Headless Developer), Brendan Sharman (Creative Director and Designer), Philippa Brown (Senior Digital Project Manager), and Paul Vayanos (Principal Product and Experience Strategist).
The VCASS project is a clear example of what becomes possible when strategy, design, and engineering work in true alignment. VCASS is a school producing some of Australia’s most talented young artists, and they deserved a digital platform that reflects that standard. These three awards are a recognition of the whole team’s commitment to craft, and to building work that lasts.
— Jeremy Bogdanowicz, CEO, JTB Studios
Every organisation deserves a digital presence that performs at the highest level. If you’re ready to raise the standard of yours, we’d welcome the conversation.
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