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Graphic Design News Opportunities Announcements Enter Our 61st Annual GDUSA Awards

Enter Our 61st Annual GDUSA Awards

Our flagship end-of-year best-of-year competition open to every­one: creative firms, design studios, ad agencies, inhouse departments, freelancers, students, more. We honor excellence across all media in two dozen categories. DEADLINE: One week extension to Friday November 1.

Sponsored by Billerud

2024 American Graphic Design Awards™

One Brief Extension to Friday (11/1)

 

The American Graphic Design Awards™ is our flagship contest open to every­one in the community: design firms and studios, ad and creative agencies, inhouse departments,  freelancers, students and more. It honors outstanding work of all kinds — end-of-year best-of-year — in two dozen categories across all print, digital and interactive media. This is our 61st Anniversary.

Sponsored by Billerud

BILLERUD  provides paper and packaging materials that challenge conventional printing and packaging for a sustainable future. We are a world leading company in high-performing paper and packaging materials made from virgin fiber; passionately committed to sustainability, quality, and customer value. The company has nine production units in Sweden, USA, and Finland with around 6,100 employees in over 13 countries and customers in over 100 countries. Billerud is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. In the United States, Billerud operates out of a regional head office in Miamisburg OH, two mills in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and a converting facility in Wisconsin. We are a leading supplier of high-quality graphic and label papers, packaging materials, and market pulp. At Billerud, we build brands and business results for our customers.

 

With A DESIGNING FOR GOOD Category Inspired by Robert Half

ROBERT HALF  Hire. Get Hired. We’re the best place for both. Robert Half is the world’s first and largest specialized talent solutions firm that connects opportunities at great companies with highly skilled professionals. Their creative, digital and marketing specialists are ready to support your contract or permanent placement hiring or job search needs. As a sponsor of GDUSA’s American Inhouse Design Awards, GDUSA’s Digital Design Awards and the featured Designing for Good category in GDUSA’s American Graphic Design Awards, Robert Half is proud to help recognize inspiring creative work and collaboration. Robert Half is an equal opportunity employer. To view the 2025 Salary Guide from Robert Half and for job search resources or support to help you expand your team, visit their website. roberthalf.com.

 

ENTRY CATEGORIES

1.  Annual + Corporate Reports
2.  Announcements + Invitations
3.  Advertising + Ad Campaigns
4.  Books
5.  Branding + Identity
6.  Brochures + Collateral
7.  Catalogs
8.  Data Visualization + Infographics
9.  Direct Mail
10. Email Marketing
11. Integrated Marketing Campaigns
12. Logos + Symbols
13. Motion (TV, Film, Video, Animation)
14. Packaging
15. P-O-P + Displays + Exhibits
16. Posters
17. Presentations
18. Publications + Newsletters
19. Sales Promotion + Self Promotion
20. Signs + Environmental Graphics
21. Social Media
22. Student Work
23. Surface + Vehicle Graphics
24. Website + UX/UI Design
25. Feature Category: Designing For Good

 

How To Enter

Entries may be submitted by any company, agency or individual involved in the creation or production or distribution or placement of the work. Entries must have been created or produced or published anytime after January 1, 2023.

SPECIAL NOTE TO ENTRANTS

Now in our 61st year, GDUSA competitions have grown so large that we have engaged a specialized awards firm respected and renowned — OPENWATER — that greatly simplifies the entry process and makes the flow easier and more intuitive for you. Among the upgrades: you can start an entry, save it in draft, and finish it later; and we have created a CART system that lets you collect all the entries and pay once at the end of the process with all major credit cards. GDUSA will, of course, continue to control all design, content, and review activities.

1.  CREATE A NEW ACCOUNT OR LOG IN
In most cases you will need to open a new account. This is quick and easy; just a few lines of basic information. If you happen to already have an OpenWater account, you can simply log in.

2.  SELECT THE CATEGORY
Select the category that best describes each entry or entries.

3.  SUBMIT ENTRY DETAILS
For each entry, design firm or creative agency or inhouse department plus client, title of entry, creative credits.

4.  UPLOAD DIGITAL FILES/ELECTRONIC ARTWORK
Specifications are provided for all types of categories. In most cases, you will be asked to upload 1-4 images that display your entry or 1 composite image that includes the highlights. When relevant, such as for websites and videos, we ask for the URL as well as the 1-4 supporting still images. For the images, we much prefer JPGs but will accept other formats.

5.  PAYMENT FOR ENTRIES (AND PAST WINNER DISCOUNT)
Each entry automatically appears in a CART and you can pay once for any or all entries at the end. We accept payment by major Credit Cards or via Paypal. There are deep volume discounts built automatically into the entry fee schedule.

6. SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE ‘DESIGNING FOR GOOD’ CATEGORY
After you have submitted your entries in ALL OTHER CATEGORIES and paid for them by CHECKING OUT through the CART, please start a NEW SUBMISSION for your ‘Designing For Good’ entry or entries. When these ‘Designing For Good’ entries appear in the CART, use the Designing for Good promo code at CHECKOUT.

7.  ENTRY FEES
$95    … 1 Entry
$180 …  2 Entries
$240 … 3 Entries
$280 … 4 Entries
$300 … 5 Entries
$320 … 6 Entries
$340 … 7 Entries
$360 … 8 Entries
$380 … 9 Entries
$400 … 10-40 Entries
MAXIMUM 40 ENTRIES

To receive the PAST WINNERS promo code and.or DESIGNING FOR GOOD promo code just email awards@gdusa.com

 

Enter Here

 

MAILING ADDRESS & QUESTIONS

Graphic Design USA/GDUSA
re: Awards Department
594 Dean Street, Ste. 201
Brooklyn NY 11238

ANY QUESTIONS OR NEED DISCOUNT CODE? Email: awards@gdusa.com


RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Winning entrants grant Graphic Design USA the right to reproduce the winning pieces in the GDUSA Graphic Design Awards Annual in print, digital, web and mobile editions, and in any and all materials and media produced for promotional purposes by Graphic Design USA and Billerud and Robert Half.

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