GDES Students Honored in 2024 UCDA Awards

UCDA’s annual awards program honors exceptional design work by communications professionals in the field of education, with awards given in four main categories: print and digital, illustration, photography and student work.

Susan Post was honored with a Silver award for her booklet design for the Museum at FIT. Founded in 1969 by the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Museum at FIT is a specialized museum of fashion best known for its innovative and award-winning exhibitions. Post’s project was completed under guidance from Associate Professor Courtney Windham.

Ellen Stovall, a 2024 GDES graduate, received an Excellence award for her senior project titled, “WildLily Adventure Tour,” a women’s hiking tour guide through the Appalachian Trail that focuses on safety and community.

Carly DeSimone’s website redesign for renowned graphic designer David Carson, completed in Assistant Professor Devon Ward’s interactive media studio, also earned an Excellence award.

Aaliyah Williams received an Honorable Mention for her designer booklet project, completed in Assistant Professor Mario Bocanegra’s Typographics I studio.

A group of five GDES students—Emiko Benton, Carly DeSimone, Robert Gleason, Evan Phillips and Rae Nawrocki—were recognized with an Honorable Mention for their project titled, “From the Ashes.” The project proposes using charcoal from controlled burns to create handmade “Grand Bay Ink,” developed to promote conservation efforts at the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) on the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast.

A panel of 21 design professionals, including SIGD’s own Robert Finkel, Program Chair of Graphic Design, evaluated hundreds of entries before naming winners in each of the four competitions. Winning work was exhibited at UCDA’s 54^th annual conference in Indianapolis, Indiana last month.