Judges' Awards
Jason Carreiro
Middlesex Hospital "Common Thread TV spot"
Hospital and healthcare advertising tends to be fairly predictable — smiling patients and doctors in pristine hospital rooms with a reassuring voice-over and a tasteful piano soundtrack. The Middlesex Hospital TV spot surprised me with it’s bold execution. The beautiful, high-contrast animation and swirling, vibrant colors have an immediate wow-factor that forces the viewer to sit up and take notice. The campaign narrative, The Smarter Choice for Care, speaks to the fact that Middlesex Hospital does things differently — embracing new technologies and ways of thinking about medicine and patient care. The design execution supports that claim perfectly. The spot is a wonderful example of how a creative execution can really make a concept sing.
Christina Holmes
This piece as a whole for me was really strong and my pick for the judges award. As a printed piece I feel like it hands down stood out from the other entries. The strong choice of black & white imagery that was utilized within the design is powerful, graphic and organic. The color choices of red, black and white for the text overlays along with the graphics, were all used wisely. Even the choice in printing, paper stock, and mixing of perfectly hued papers within the book felt natural. I feel like all of the design elements were successfully executed making you want to stop, open it up and read.
Joseph Scarano
This piece kept leering at me, quietly tapping me on the shoulder and giving me funny looks. It made me uncomfortable so i leered back. We became friends. The color palette, illustration style, design, execution, and usability all combined to create a beautiful promotional piece that really stood out.
Rebecca Kelly
I wrestled with this decision – although BOTH were worthy of my award. The fact that I am a design educator ultimately won this mental tug of war. As we all know – education is key to a successful society whether or not it is a design-centered education or otherwise. This project captures the essence of a Montessori education – it is elevated and cerebral without isolation and derogatory in message. No comic sans and primary colors here. It absolutely captures Maria Montessori’s nature and self-discovery educational philosophy.
Fritz Klaetke
When I judge a show, I'm always very interested in seeing what students--representatives of the next design "generation"--submit. So it was great to see the project FoodPharm (by Basia Karpiel from UConn) when I scanned the tables of submissions. From the topical subject matter to the clever name, from the hand-painted watercolor logo to the tongue-in-cheek videos of mock commercials, this is a thoughtful concept well-executed across the board. This unbeatable combination of smarts & style won my heart (and my Judges' Choice pick).