Regional Design Awards Winners 2018: Midwest

The Regional Design Awards is America’s preeminent design competition. View the winners of the 2018 RDA from the Midwest below and prepare your entries as the 2019 Regional Design Awards are accepting submissions now.

Midwest Regional Design Awards

Nancy Skolos, Midwest region judge

Nancy Skolos works closely with her husband Thomas Wendell to challenge the boundaries between graphic design and photography. In 1980 they opened Skolos, Wendell + Raynor in Boston. Around this time, their studio gained success as technology made it possible to make “the invisible visible.” Their partner Kenneth Raynor left the Boston area in 1990 and Skolos-Wendell carried on as a duo. By 1993 their studio had been featured in Eye magazine where they were labeled as “techno-cubists.”

Throughout their career, the duo’s approach has matured and their client base has grown, but they’ve kept to their impassioned roots experimenting with photography and design.

Together, Skolos and Wendell have authored two books: Type, Image, Message, published by Rockport in 2006, and Graphic Design Process, published by Laurence King in 2012. Skolos has been teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design since 1989 and believes that teaching graphic design is as vital as the practice itself.

Skolos and Wendell have had their work showcased in collections at the MoMA, The Israel Museum and the Museum of Design in Zürich. In 2017, the two were awarded the AIGA Medal for their work “pushing the boundaries of art, design and technology with a distinctive vision to find connection among disparate forms.”

Best of Region

Places for People—Photography

Almanac, St. Louis; www.brandalmanac.com: Nathan Sprehe (creative director), Katie Hileman (art director/designer), Jay Fram (photographer); Places for People (client)

Midwest Regional Design Awards Winners Gallery

1. 2017 Henry Ford Estate Dinner Dance

GTB – The Park, Dearborn, MI; www.gtb.com: Michele Silvestri, Christine Jones (creative directors), Basia Rochon (creative director/designer), Jaclyn Caris (designer); Fair Lane: Home of Clara & Henry Ford (client)

2. 5th Annual 630 Day Poster

Yellow Ranger, St. Louis; http://yellow-ranger.com: Yellow Ranger (creative direction/art direction/design), Andrea Bolt and Backroads Personalization (laser etching); StilL 630 (client)

3. ALEA Expo Invitation

Jajo, Wichita, KS; www.jajo.agency: Mike Gangwere (creative director/art director), Tate Trible, Brian Beyer (designers), Matt Nelson (writer); Textron Aviation (client)

4. Almanac—Heart, Move, Magic Motion Graphics

Almanac, St. Louis; www.brandalmanac.com: Nathan Sprehe (creative director), Katie Hileman, Corey Helling (art directors/designers), Brennan Full (videographer); Almanac (client)

5. Almanac—Website, www.brandalmanac.com

Almanac, St. Louis; www.brandalmanac.com: Nathan Sprehe (creative director), Katie Hileman (art director/designer), Sarah Stallmann, Angela Winschel (writers); Almanac (client)

6. Area

Design Ranch, Kansas City, MO; www.design-ranch.com: Ingred Sidie, Michelle Sonderegger (creative directors/art directors), Morgan Stephens (art director/designer), Claire Harrison (writer); Area Real Estate Advisors (client)

7. Balance & Breathe

Illume, Bloomington, MN; www.illumecandles.com: April Mueller (creative director), Dawn Wenck (art director), Taisha Sveda, Heidi DeLeon (designers); Anthropologie (client)

8. Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room

Design Ranch, Kansas City, MO; www.design-ranch.com: Michelle Sonderegger (creative director/art director), Nathaniel Cooper (creative director/art director/designer), Morgan Stephens (designer), Jeremy Collins (illustrator), Jenny Wheat, Bonjwing Lee (photographers); Corvino Supper Club & Tasting Room (client)

9. Design for the Walker Art Center’s 2017 Insights Design Lecture Series

Walker Art Center Design Department, Minneapolis; https://walkerart.org/magazine/categories/design: Emmet Byrne (design director/writer), Aryn Beitz, Ben Schwartz (designers/illustrators), Pamela Johnson (writer); Walker Art Center (client)

10. Emil Milan: Midcentury Master

Wonderfull Design, Minneapolis; www.wonderfulldesign.com: Erika Brask, Dan Saal (creative directors/art directors/designers), John Carlano, Lucy Hawthorne (photographers), Craig Edelbrock, Norm Sartorius, Phil Jurus, Barry Gordon, Albert LeCoff (writers); The Center for Art in Wood (client)