Medal Finalists: April 2009 Archives

Photography Awards: Service Feature, Single or Spread

Service. It's one of the backbones of any great magazine, helping the reader to know more, make better decisions, be empowered to improve themselves or their surroundings. Just because magazines have been providing service since the very beginning though doesn't mean that any of these Medal Finalists for Photography in the Service Feature category are ordinary shots, standard or expected solutions. Far from it: the photography here is sharp enough to draw you in, even if you weren't thinking you needed to know about the best in cameras, get it together to start running, stop slacking on your enviro cred, get a grip on what's going on inside your brain at 40, or understand some of the underlying issues in your personal universe. Take a look at the finalists after the jump....

… MORE

Design Awards: Educational/Institutional

Rounding out the Medal Finalists from the Educational/Institutional entries are the Design Medal Finalists: not surprisingly, quite a few covering hot issues in the education world! Probably not something most of us see with a lot of frequency, but getting some time in the spotlight after the jump...

… MORE

Photography: Educational/Institutional

All magazines have a specific audience, a reader who comes to the publication expecting certain coverage, with a certain voice and look, something they come to identify as part of themselves; but for the magazines from the Educational/Institutional part of our great world, the reader has a very, very specific interest, and the magazine works to telescope information through the tightest of lenses: general interest is not a luxury to be had here.
And yet.
Each of these Medal Finalists for Photography in the Educational/Institutional group bring their alumni, or their socio-political group, or their unique professional members the finest of work, elevating not just their magazine, but their readers as well -- for who doesn't take pride in a job exceedingly well done on their behalf? Kudos for the work after the jump...

… MORE

Design Awards: Trade/Corporate

The Medal Finalists from the Design side of the Trade/Corporate entries are just as invigorating a display of creative energy as their Photography partners... ranging from indie-movies to T-Pain to golf legends -- all beautiful, thoughtful design, and as these titles aren't typically newsstand fare, probably new to you, too! Take a peek...

… MORE

Photography Awards: Trade/Corporate

Everyone's got a challenging job, right? Not only are you trying to make information and content beautiful and engaging, even if the topic might seem, at first, a little less-than, but you're also pleasing editors, advertisers, publishers, focus groups... the list goes on and on. But even when the topics might seem less-than ideal (kids' clothing? golf clubs? band-aids?), today's Medal Finalists from the Photography section of the Trade/Corporate entries PROVE that brilliance happens every day, with every kind of budget, and every where. Magazines that some might write-off as inherently impossible to make "look good" look stunning here, and these Medal Finalists are raising the bar for everyone...

… MORE

Design Awards: Section, Series of Pages

More fabulous entries are here, from the Design family side of the Magazine Section tree, this time a collection of pages from each magazine, with entries from Blender, Esquire, GQ and W. More good stuff to come, including our Photo and Design Medal Finalists from the Trade/Corporate and Educational/Institutional selects next, so check back on us for a dose of good old-fashioned inspiration!

Finalists after the jump...
… MORE

Design Awards: Section Single Page or Spread

More beautiful pages here, this time from the Medal Finalists in the Section category, our first up so far for Design. Recurring columns, a chart that's been blown-out into a spread of information, a beautiful opener for a special section: these are the pages that make a magazine rich and lively and dense, packed with informational vitamins and minerals, good for the reader in both content, and as we see here, visuals. Take a gander...

… MORE

Photography Awards: Section, Series of Pages

At long last, we bring you more Photography awards! (We know you've been waiting for them...) This overall category features more vibrant photography and excellent design from sections of the book that AREN'T features--where a lot of the creative time and energy is spent, but not always spotlighted as much as it deserves. Here again, the judging focuses on the photography and how effectively it communicates the message, all the while looking amazing.

These five contenders feature abundantly tattooed rockers, some nature, some architecture, some more nature, some more architecture, and really gorgeous fashion. The titles? Another diverse showing from several corners of the globe.

But who'll get the Gold and Silver? Find out on May 8! (see here or find out more after the jump)

… MORE

Photography Awards: Section, Single Page or Spread

The award preview greatness continues today as we switch our focus from Illustration to Photography. Always inspiring, photo is the life-blood of our biz. Photography can provide the clearest, most effective service to our readers, often relays the idea with no words needed (but good luck trying to sell that to your editors) and, um, frankly, good photography makes our job as designers a LOT easier. Thank god for our photographers.

These five medal contenders once again hail from very diverse titles, but all use jaw-dropping images to make you stop in your tracks and look twice (or three... or four... or more). Keep in mind, folks, that these titles are competing for the Gold and Silver awards. See the finalists and all their full-color glory after the jump.

P.S. There's a lot more photo to come!
… MORE

Illustration Awards: Story

Plenty of love so far for illustration, and the Medal Finalists here representing the best of Illustration: Story show why: a huge variety in the work, covering the personal profile, the sociological investigations (no babies? ladies partaking? are these related??), art appreciation, you name it. What unifies them is in the commitment to elevating already strong stories with the addition of the best of the best in terms of visuals. Take a look...

… MORE

Illustration Awards: Single Page or Spread

Always big fans of illustration, and there's more great work here again in the Illustration: Single Page or Spread category of Medal Finalists. Take a peek after the jump at the big, gorgeous spreads that drew the most attention during the judging in January...
… MORE

Illustration Awards: Photo-Illustration

Keeping our illo-crush alive, we're taking a peek at the Medal Finalists in the Photo-Illustration category. Now, you might be wondering, why aren't these in the photo group? And we'll admit, like Donny & Marie (now The Archivists date themselves), it's a little bit one and a little of the other. But we think the spirit of the work, in the purposeful manipulation, is a little more illo. And we're sticking to it.

Pure artistry, though, in the pursuit of instructing, informing, and making ideas that much more interesting, no matter what: that's what we've got here...


… MORE

Illustration Awards: Information Graphics

We've kind of got an illustration-love theme started this week, so we figured it was the perfect time to keep it going by bringing you some of the Medal Finalists in the Illustration categories, starting with Information Graphics.

Again, a group of magazines you don't necessarily read all during the same trip to the beach, let's say, but great work from each of them, each in completely different ways...
… MORE

Redesign Awards

In anticipation of the Gala coming up on Friday, May 8th, we're going to take the opportunity to devote a few posts over the next few weeks to the work of all the Medal Finalists who are in the running for Gold and Silver Medals that night, and to give everyone a chance to see what the judges all saw back in January: some truly great work from 2008.

First up, the Redesign category: truly eclectic. A music magazine, a food magazine, a travel magazine, a women's magazine, and an outdoors magazine that's over 100 years old. What do they all have in common though? Great design from each of these teams...
… MORE