By: Print staff | November 7, 2011
The Creativity + Commerce competition is meant to highlight the best business-focused design from around the world: logos, identities, annual reports, advertising campaigns, signage, and corporate brochures. But over the years, that world has sometimes seemed very small indeed, with very few international winners at all. We’re happy to report that this year’s finalists could not be more visually or geographically diverse. Of the 26 winning designs, nearly half are from outside the United States. (Surprisingly, four come from one Brazilian firm, Greco Design.) Also represented are Spain, Canada, Singapore, Italy, and Croatia. Closer to home, you’ll see some familiar names, such as Design Army, Leo Burnett, Wieden + Kennedy, and Crispin Porter Bogusky. Newer, smaller firms made the cut, too, including JDA, a graphic design office from Long Beach, California; Space150, in Minneapolis; and Chicago’s Grip Design. All of this is to say that while business may be idling worldwide, business design seems to be thriving.
1 Mohawk Loop AlmanacDesign Firm: Tomorrow Partners, Berkeley, California.Art Director: Gaby BrinkDesigners: Mónica Hernández, Scott Hickman, Amber ReedIllustrators: Paul Tebbott, Edel Rodriguez, Grady McFerrin, Sarah Labieniec Writers: Nathalie Destandau, Natalie Linden, Wendy Jedlicka, Jason McVayPhotographers: Ron van Dongen, Steve Cohen, Misha Ashton, Laurie Frankel, Daniel Geiseke, Blaise Hayward, Kane Longden, Tier Und Naturfotografie J & C Sohns, Getty Images; Katherine Wolkoff, Art & Commerce; Michael Hall, Getty Images
Client: Mohawk Fine Papers
2 EarBudeez Earbud Packaging
Design Firm: JDA, Long Beach, CaliforniaArt Director: Jerome CallejaDesigners: Dean Kojima, Stephanie Windham
Client: Audiovox Accessories
3 Version 26
Design Firm: Space150, MinneapolisArt Director: Billy JurewiczDesigners: Roven Bashier, Kari Tate-Anderson, Dustin Sparks, Michael Watson, Dustin JoyceWriters: Cassie Broeckert, Todd Lintner
Client: Space150
The 2011 Creativity + Commerce Judges
Joshua Liberson and Ethan Trask, vice presidents of Creative, spent the first part of their careers designing magazines in-house for a range of titles as varied as US Weekly and the fashion bible Visionaire. In 2001, brought together by a job, they decided to form Helicopter, a New York–based design consultancy. Over the next ten years, Helicopter expanded its practice to include both design and strategy across multiple sectors including media, the arts, retail, and hospitality, receiving international recognition along the way. In January 2011, Helicopter was acquired by its then client One Kings Lane. Josh and Ethan now run the creative group. Josh holds a degree in studio arts from Wesleyan University and was a founding member of the School of Visual Arts’ Master’s in Branding Program. Ethan holds a degree in English from Lewis & Clark College and is a former member of the New York board of AIGA. They are both inordinately fond of toile. Amanda Spielman is a graphic designer at SpotCo, an advertising agency that specializes in creating artwork for Broadway theater and other live entertainment. Prior to SpotCo, Amanda was an associate art director at Time Inc. Custom Publishing, where she helped to launch Proto, an award-winning magazine for Massachusetts General Hospital. Her work has been recognized by Print, the Society of Publication Designers, and Graphis and has been featured in Step, Metropolis, Good, The Design Entrepreneur, and Fingerprint. Amanda graduated from the M.F.A. design program at the School of Visual Arts and holds a B.A. from Vassar College. She lives in Jackson Heights, Queens.