Special Program Publications Packages

Comments on Winning Entries

Grand Gold Medal

Southwestern University, The Sarofilm School of Fine Arts Renovation Dedication

• This piece referenced traditional Invitation and dedication packages but did not fall into conventional blahs. We thought the contemporary use of blind emboss was striking and timeless. The layout and typesetting was elegant and well-tuned, the use of black and white photography cropped to emphasize geometrics made the booklet feel "treasure-like". One less than positive comment was that the pieces did not break new ground, but the package was a well-crafted and exciting recycling of old ideas. It was well-planned and designed. Photography made the pieces. Beautifully simplistic.

Gold Medal

Princeton University, Dedication of the Peter B. Lewis Library

• The judges loved how the design of the pieces matched the design of the building, down to the types of inks, cuts and finishes. Congratulations for both thinking creatively and organically about the design solutions. The pieces were well executed in terms of production and they certainly stood out among others and begged for clarification - in short, they were intriguing. While referencing the architecture was a clever idea, the building was cohesive and the print materials were not. The judges would have been excited had the same concept been more carefully crafted (as were the building) to work in every combination, but instead a cacophony of imagery and typography presented itself. Small but astute modification would have changed the entire piece. Still, kudos for this effort.

Silver Medal

Pratt Institute, Pratt Fashion Show Materials

• Wonderfully executed. Good use of materials. Treatment of type is playful, yet sophisticated. Great cohesion yet individually of pieces. This s a great example of the end product forgiving an exorbitant budget. The overall effect of having the foil stamping and the perfect binding say that the event is extraordinary. That aside, the cleverness of tricking the eye by splitting the word FASHION and making it shiny in juxtaposition to the fabric or fabric-quality was felt to be smart and effective. However, judges thought they would have chosen to corrupt the "square" part of the theme to reuse the invite die on the program to follow through the red and foil part of the theme. But the program stands alone as a tip of high fashion by patterning the printed silver with a floral motif. Clean design, nice concept and great execution.

Bronze Medals

Lehigh University, Listen, Lean, Love: His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama at Lehigh University

• Very effective and comprehensive coverage of the visit. The design was reflective of an Asian influence. It seems to make great use of the extraordinary visit. The use of the red felt sleeves and envelopes was a wonderful reference to Tibet. As for the various invitations, the decision to jump to a tactilely soft uncoated paper and merge Eastern and Western design made for a richness and humbleness which was thought to be delightfully appropriate while surprising. The judges wished that it had been carried over to the program booklet for the sake of consistency, but also because it would have been a different experience turning the pages of the uncoated smooth sheet. The "Listen, Learn, Love" and interlocking Celtic heart in a red circle was also smart, but they felt a competing concept had been created which kept popping up. Here is this amazing individual with his singular message, and there is this superimposed message. Stylistically there wasn't much cohesiveness from a design standpoint - it set up one thing and then disappointed. The invitations stood out as an example of thoughtful decisions which the other pieces were unable to follow.

University of Dayton, "What's Next?" University of Dayton President's Report and Strategic Plan

• Very engaging. Language speaks to the human emotion versus institutional jargon. A face was put on the university. A nice way to execute two pieces that have the potential to be very dry. The explanations of the system were very well stated and illustrated. The judges found the final products unnecessarily fussy and visually chaotic. The judges gave an A+ to the photography, though it often got lost in the color overlays, type and other devices such as tabs and rules.