Graphic Design Team Wins Gold in 2016 UCDA Design Competition

Robert Finkel and his team of graphic designers received a Gold Award from the University & College Designers Association Design Competition for the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art Third Thursday’s Poetry Letterpress Broadsides Series (2015–2016 Season). Out of 1,100 entries, 187 received awards, and only six were awarded Gold. The broadsides were exhibited at the UCDA Design Conference in San Antonio this September. The UCDA Design Competition recognizes the best of the exceptional design work done to promote educational institutions (secondary, vocation, or higher education) and supports the exchange of ideas and information relating to the unique role of these designers.

Finkel, an assistant professor in the School of Industrial + Graphic Design, was art director for the project that included graphic design faculty from the School of Industrial + Graphic Design: Kelly Bryant, Finkel, Samantha Herbert, Courtney Windham, College of Architecture, Design and Construction graphic designer Marcelo Blanco, and graphic design alumna Courtney Collins Wales.

The broadside series is coordinated by Finkel and Associate Professor of Creative Writing, Keetje Kuipers, and JCSM Curator of Education and University Liaison, Scott Bishop. The prints are exhibited at the Jule Collins Smith museum year round. The broadsides were also recently included in the “Showcase: The Work of Creative Scholarship” exhibition that held in conjunction with Auburn’s “This is Research: Faculty Symposium 2016” at JCSM. The series has received awards from the 45th Annual UCDA Design Competition, “Creative Quarterly 38/39,” and “Signs of the Times: Juried Broadside Exhibition” at North Dakota University.