This summer, to give designers an opportunity to become better acquainted with digital printing technology — as well as digital papers that can enhance design projects and solutions — GDUSA conducted a special “Digital Print Cover Competition.”
Neenah was a natural sponsor given its rich variety of paper colors and textures for digital print applications. Several hundred designers entered the competition, and two winners were selected based on their submission’s success in integrating design, production and papers. A dozen honorable mentions were also designated.
Just after Labor Day, the judges met to make the final selections at the trendy Brooklyn Collective. The three judges were (pictured left to right) Greg Maze, Neenah’s Senior Brand Manager - Digital, Ilana Greenberg, GDUSA Creative Director and David Ceradini, President, Chief Creative Officer at Ceradini Brand Design. David Ceradini is a leader in branding and package design, a graduate of Pratt, and his award-winning Brooklyn-based firm has developed intelligent solutions that captivate the heart and motivate consumers on behalf of a world-class roster of clients. Greg Maze has worked in the paper industry since 1986, serving in managerial positions at International Paper and Neenah, and is an expert in marketing and in the use of premium papers. Ilana Greenberg is credited with revamping and reinvigorating the GDUSA brand, where she oversees print, online, app and social media activities. She is much in demand as a design consultant for corporate and non-profit entities.
The two winning selections are featured as tip-on covers on the September/October issue of GDUSA.
SOLO THE FREEDOM
Design Firm: Origin, Houston TX Art Directors: Jim Mousner, Michelle Coffey Designer/Illustrator: Jairo Razo Paper: CLASSIC CREST® Cover SOLAR WHITE 100C (270 g/m2) 13.5pt | Stipple Digital
Origin is an interdisciplinary design firm specializing in brand creation and augmentation through a combination of digital and traditional mediums. Through nearly 20 years of service to clients of all types and sizes, Origin has built a reputation as a competitive force, benevolent influence and proud Houston-based studio. And, Origin credits the company’s history of consistently maintaining a diverse, cross-cultural design team as key to success. Regarding the cover design, being headquartered in Houston, which has a fast growing Hispanic population, everyone at Origin has been witness to the merging of Spanish and English speaking cultures, as well as the migration from traditional lithography to digital printing. The unique ability of digital printing to facilitate cross-cultural communication — literally delivering a custom piece to every recipient “in their own language” — served as the inspiration for the winning entry. Origin designer Jairo Razo drew on his own cross-cultural origins to create the luchador who serves as an icon that is breaking down barriers and showing up in places that he is “not expected” and “doesn’t belong.” “In the process,” explains Associate Design Director Michelle Coffey, “he is taking GDUSA readers to new places they may have never considered before.”
PROSPERITY
Design Firm: Barbara Kosoff Design + Illustration, Santa Monica CA Art Director/Designer/Illustrator: Barbara Kosoff Paper: STARDREAM® Cover QUARTZ 105C (285 g/m2) 14pt | Smooth Digital for HP
Barbara Kosoff is an Art Director and Illustrator based in Santa Monica CA. After spending four years living and working in Paris, she sailed from the Seine to the Pacific where she merges a traditional European aesthetic with the sunny Southern California scene. While she’s a digital diva, her interest in getting back to making art (sans le computer) led her to create the kind of paper assemblage you see in her cover illustration. Her whimsical approach has been featured in The Huffington Post, Los Angeles Times and Scientific American Mind magazine. She also exhibits her work at galleries throughout Southern California. When she’s not lost in color and collage, she can be found wandering the streets of Paris in search of divine inspiration, buttery croissants and dark chocolate. To view Barbara’s mixed-media work, please visit: Altpick.com/Barbarakosoff Kosoff’s inspiration behind the cover design came from a personal exploration of creating one’s own success and abundance. The garden is a lovely metaphor for cultivating that growth. With that idea in mind, she began to explore this through her usual way of working – taking images, found and photographed, and combining them with some oil bars. “Working intuitively,” she says, “I arrange and rearrange these until a story grows organically from it. People ask me if this is a self-portrait and, in some ways, I guess it is. My art is definitely a form of growth for me personally, artistically and spiritually.”
HONORABLE MENTIONS:
Chromatic Spiral
Design Firm: BCreative, Clinton Township MI Art Director/Designer/Illustrator/ Photographer: Brian Sabalinski Paper: Crane’s Lettra® Digital, Pearl White
Rush Hour
Design Firm: Berdon LLP/Marketing Group, New York NY Art Director/Designer/Photographer: Matina Korologos Velez Paper: Classic Crest®, Solar White Eggshell Digital
Don’t Be Afraid of Digital
Design Firm: Jeff Rogers Design, Tulsa OK Art Director/Designer/Illustrator: Jeff Rogers Paper: Royal Sundance® Felt Digital, Natural
Fresh Perspective
Design Firm: Jessica Grant Design, Framingham MA Art Director/Designer/Illustrator/ Photographer: Jessica Grant Paper: Environment® Papers, Moonrock
Target
Design Firm: The Independent Group, Ann Arbor MI Designer: Isaac Gertman Paper: Oxford® Texture Digital, White
Like a Grandma in a Fabric Shop
Design Firm: WIAN Branding, North Vancouver BC Art Director/Designer: Coromoto Diaz Paper: Classic Crest® Smooth Digital, Solar White
Hot Hot Hot!
Design Firm: Orange Door Direct, Calgary AB Designer: Andrea Brisson Paper: Classic Crest® Papers, Red Pepper
Science + Design In The Workplace
Design Firm: Haworth Inc., Holland MI Art Director/Designer/Illustrator: Armando Cajina Paper: Crane’s Lettra® Digital, Fluorescent White
CLASSIC Inspiration
Design Firm: Creative Campaign, Des Moines IA Art Director/Designer/Illustrator: Ashley Miller Paper: Classic® Linen Digital, Avon Brilliant White
Jubilee Design
Firm: Garza Art & Design, Kansas City MO Art Director/Designer/Illustrator: Bense Garza Paper: Classic Crest® Smooth, Epic Black
Digital Printing- The Future of Graphic Design
Design Firm: Oswald Durham, Staten Island NY Art Director/Designer: Oswald Durham Paper: Astrobrights® Paper, Solar Yellow
Floating Reader
Design Firm: GCNY Marketing, Ltd., Brooklyn NY Art Director/Designer: Joseph Blumenfeld Paper: Classic® Laid Digital, Avon Brilliant White
ABOUT THE SPONSOR
Neenah is recognized as a world-class manufacturer of premium writing, text, cover, digital, specialty and private watermark papers. Neenah is entirely focused on the premium paper market. The company is committed to producing only superior quality products and developing new technologies that meet the needs of designers, consumers, printers and merchants and ensure that paper remains a vital and vibrant medium of expression. This includes a rich variety of paper colors and textures for digital printing applications. To learn more about Neenah’s digital papers contact www.neenahpaper.com/digital
