by Tammy Parrett
Graphic design students proudly represented the University of West Georgia at the annual Signature Awards, hosted by the Northern Illinois University chapter of AIGA and AIGA Chicago. Graphic design students Crystal Sutz, Amanda Ramos, Madison DeFilipis, Julie Stone and Amanda Douthit received awards.
The American Institute of Graphic Arts is one of the oldest and most renowned graphic design organizations in the world. They currently have 67 chapters across the United States and over 25,000 members. “There were three extremely talented judges this year. Each one could give their ‘signature’ to as many of the designs submitted. If the student just received one ‘signature’ then they were in the competition,” explains Amanda Douthit, who received two signatures for her poster, which was inspired by Daniel Libeskind architecture.
The judges for the competition included three highly respected designers: Rick Valicenti, who received the AIGA Medal in 2006, James Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. and Sara Frisk from IDEO – a global design consultancy.
“The students work very hard and this recognition shows that our efforts at building a high quality graphic design program at UWG are paying off,” says Joey Hannaford, who works alongside Cassie Hester to encourage students to submit their designs to as many competitions as possible. “Being able to list design competition awards on a job resume greatly enhances our student's employability after graduation. We are loving their success!” Cassie and Joey are assistant professors in the graphic design program.
In addition to student success at the Signature Awards, the graphic design program also has two students, Chelsea Horton and Kiara Nichols, as semi-finalists in the 2014 Adobe Design Achievement Awards. Semi-finalists will be notified whether or not they will be moving on into the final judging session in August.
For more information about the graphic design program, visit www.westga.edu/~artdept/.
