VCD students Carli Dottore and Shawn Ritzenthaler were recognized with awards in the 2009 AIGA Cleveland Design Competition for their work entered in the Student Category. Carli won two of only five awards in this category for her Letterpress Valentine greeting and her packaging design for Jack's Coffee. Shawn's three designs for Shipyard Brewing beer were illustrated labels with hand lettering.
Alumni winners in the competition in Professional Categories continue to indicate that Kent State design graduates are at the top of the design field. Out of 39 awards in three categories, KSU VCD alumni and students were listed on 25 awards. The winning entries were on display May 8–23, 2009 in the Arts Collinwood district in Cleveland. Independent judges from around the country who are standouts in the industry were Jim Ales, Barbara deWilde and Jeffery Keyton.
Christine Wisnieski co-desiged the new Identity System (logo and collateral print materials) for Oliver Printing of Twinsburg. The project received a Judges Choice award and a separate award in the Print category. Christine also won as Art Director for a holiday gift package design for Oliver Printing. Christopher Oldham and Mark Nisinski won an award for their Cleveland International Film Festival print campaign which included posters, banners, environmental graphics, passes, buttons and more. Christine, Christopher and Mark work for Twist Creative, Inc. in Cleveland, and designed the firm's winning holiday card.
Sean Higgins and Nicholas Rezabek won a Print award for their BB King poster promoting his appearance at the House of Blues in Cleveland. Ann Toomey of Epstein Design Partners won an award for the Cleveland Clinic 2006 Annual Report which she co-designed and art directed. Mikey Burton, Ken Hejduk and Susan Rich won several awards for logo designs and a poster. Mike and Ken are principals of Little Jacket. Mikey also won for a direct mail campaign (that looked nothing like typical direct mail pieces!) for the Cranky Pressman.
Jerad Lavey co-created a logo and identity system for Them, Inc. which received an award in the Print category. Jerad works at designRoom Creative. Irwin Krieger, who works on the Cleveland Clinic In-House design team, received an award for their Clinical Achievements booklet. Janice Troutman and John Morrison, alumni of our graduate program, who now teach at the University of Akron, won as Art Directors for a poster for the University of Akron's Theater Department which was designed by their students in the designx9 studio.
In the Interactive Category, winners were Anne Toomey and David Roll of Epstein Design Partners for their company's Website. Christine Wisnieski and Christopher Oldham were Art Directors for the Twist Film Festival Retrospective Website Feature, and Christine was also a designer on the winning Writers Center Stage Website. John-Paul Walton and Matt Mercer won an award for their iPhone app, Seek 'n Spell.