This is my good friend Richard Hooker from City of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs office standing next to one of my signs I did for last year's Vegas Valley Book Festival as part of the AIGA Las Vegas design team. He loved these so much that he's kept this banner and poster in his office since last November! I was so delighted to be involved for a number of reasons — the chance to work with several other designers I much admire as well as my favorite photographer, the opportunity to support the cause of literacy which I am deeply passionate about and of course, being a huge Neil Gaiman fan, the chance to meet him in person was for me, a once in a lifetime joy! I even asked Neil to sign one of my event posters for his book signing and The Sound of Her Wings handbag I made up just for the event.




So why am I going on about this since it went on last year? Well in today's mail, I received the award letter and certificate letting me know that I won an American Graphic Design Award for the festival directional signage.

They made an error on the certificate listing the client (VVBF) as the designer, but no worries, I'll give this copy of the certificate to Richard for him to hang in his office and order a corrected one for my office. After all , great clients make for great design and this is certainly a case where I am so pleased to be associated with a GREAT client and a great cause!

The Graphic Design USA Annual in which it will be published will not come out until December and this year's winners won't show up on their site until just before the Annual is mailed. The contest (something like the Oscars for graphic designers) received 8,000+ entries this year. That's down a lot from years past and I can only guess the economy takes the blame for that. Only about 15% in any given year are chosen for Awards. It seems like a big chunk get recognized, but with that many entries, you'd have to get a lot of good work.

I won one of these in 2006 and 2007, but skipped entering in 2008. Each time I have only put in one or two entries and have won each year I have submitted. I am not sure if I am lucky or just picked well. I also entered the trailer I did for Metal of Honor this year, but it wasn't recognized. Shame that, but so it goes with these shows. You never know what will place and winning one competition does not necessarily mean you'll even place in another with the same piece.

For example, the CD cover & associated items which I won the GD USA Award for in 2006 did very well in the ADDY awards, snagging a gold in the same category as the "What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas" campaign, and placing in the district finals, but it didn't place in the AIGA Workshow.


Same story in 2007, the Summer Squeeze slot tournament got the GD USA Award, but didn't place in the Workshow. Different judges, different judging criteria, different results. You just can't take it personally. Design has a lot of the subjective in it.

This was the sign I created for Neil's Keynote address, which was wonderful to hear.
I still owe Suzanne for the excellent seats she saved for me and my family.

But back to this year ... The design of signs for the festival was based on a few things. Richard asked for something mysterious and film noir. I wanted to pick up the pattern of event listings that Joslyn had established in the ads she did. You can see it running through the large black areas on each sign. I also wanted to show off how books are an open door to adventure and new worlds, so I worked with my friend Nate to created these collage photos of books appropriate to the subject matter on each sign. Lastly, I did not want to overshadow the lovely logo that Victor and Randy created. That is why the book panels are desaturated and gently tinted. All the Neil Gaiman books and most of the other books on the signs came from my personal collection. I only had to hit the library for Michael Chabon (the other keynote) and poetry books. I told you I liked books!