For 32 years, the Regional Design Annual has awarded and published the best the design world has to offer. When you enter the RDA, it’s a prestigious opportunity for you to showcase your best work. Each year we are inspired by the submissions we receive from talented designers across the country. We’re so flattered by the stories and experiences they’ve shared with us about the RDA that we just had to post them!
To submit work for the 2013 RDA, click here — the deadline is March 1.
Juan Carlos Paganwww.carlospagan.com@Juan_C_Pagan
A first time entrant, New York City Designer, Typographer and Art Director, Juan Carlos Pagan won for his Pinterest Logo Type and the exposure has helped him acquire new clients and projects.
“I have always been interested in seeing how my work would be received amongst my contemporaries. I find it extremely valuable, particularly as a young designer, to share my contributions with the national design community. I entered Print Magazine’s Regional Design Competition last year for the first time primarily on this basis, although I’ve been aware of its prestige since college. The exposure I’ve received since having my work selected has certainly helped in acquiring new projects. But more importantly, having my work published in such a comprehensive and distinguished annual has compelled me to set a higher standard for my future projects.”
Zach BrunoCreative Director, Principal, WNDR
Zach Bruno, a small agency owner, was eager to enter the RDA. Familiar with the Annual, he waited for years before he found the perfect project to submit.
“I’ve wanted to get my work in the RDA since 2005. As a small agency owner, I knew I’d need the right combination of great design and [a] creative client to produce a piece of the appropriate caliber to be selected … When David (Lynch) approached me to create a website for his record label, I knew that would be my chance. After seven years, it was such a great feeling to hold the annual in my hands, looking at my creative work in it. I really felt like I had accomplished something great.”
Bob AufuldishPartner, Aufuldish & Warinner
Bob Aufuldish and Kathy Warinner used the RDA as a means to network with designers & agencies.
“When my partner, Kathy Warinner, and I relocated to San Francisco in the late 1980s, we used the RDA as an interviewing guide. It was perfectly organized for that purpose. We looked at the California North section and anyone whose work we liked we sent a resume to and then pestered with phone calls. The RDA remains interesting after all these years because it’s the one place where you can see who is doing what where.”
Robert DavisonCreative Director, Mathworks
Robert Davison, the creative director at Mathworks, sees the RDA as a time-capsule for unique work across the US.
“Getting your work into Print’s Regional Design Annual is an honor and a great opportunity to receive national exposure. I look at this annual as a kind of time capsule that documents the leading-edge visual communication work being done around the country. The geographic perspective provides a unique lens into the cultural nuances that influence the work being produced across the U.S. — a quality that has always set this competition a part. I am proud to have my work represented in such an iconic design compendium.”