Sponsored by Mohawk
This summer, to give designers an opportunity to learn more about digital printing and how the right paper selection can enhance digitally printed projects, GDUSA editors conducted the 2018 Digital Print Cover Contest. The challenge: to design a cover of GDUSA that takes advantage of the strengths of digital printing and papers. From more than 200 entries, two winners and 21 honorable mentions were selected. The sponsor is Mohawk: this fourth-generation, family-owned and operated business is known for its commitment to providing materials that help make every printed project — be it digital, offset, packaging or even letterpress — more beautiful, effective and memorable.
ABOUT THE WINNERS
Don Carter a/k/a Edgar Allan Slothman
In 1830, with watercolors, pastels, pen & ink, and gouache, John James Audubon set out to paint every bird in America. Eighteen years later, his monumental effort resulted in the massive tome, Birds of America consisting of 435 life-size, hand-colored prints. In 2010, an original 4-volume edition of Birds of America fetched $11.5 million at Sotheby’s. In 2012, illustrator Edgar Allan Slothman set out with an Apple computer to reinterpret Audubon’s Birds of America in his own simplified, graphic style. Slothman is the pop art persona of award-winning ad agency creative director Don Carter of Adams & Knight in Avon CT.
“For every print,” explains the artist, “I look for ways to break it down in some way. Often it is with geometric simplification or repeat patterns. For some, I create an entirely new color palette pushing beyond from the original as far as I can go. But in all, I stay very close to Audubon’s original composition. What struck me most about the Gyrfalcon was not only the very graphic boomerang-like outline of its body, but also the pattern of spots and bars spread across the anterior of the wing coverts and continuing over the back and rump. I could have very easily used a geometric pattern to mimic this, but something about the starkness of the spots against the all-white bird reminded me of ink spots … maybe found on the arm of a colonial ‘printer’s devil.’ And that notion took me down the path of early ‘spot illustration’ engravings and ‘printers’ marks” reminiscent of vintage tattoos. Gyrfalcon is printed on Mohawk Superfine Eggshell Digital with i-Tone Ultrawhite 100 cover.
Kim Brown-Irvis
Kim Brown-Irvis is a graphic designer at Hyphen Digital in New York where she takes the lead on creative design and print production projects such as medical ad campaigns, European trade show booth production design, advertorials, brochures, and package video design. Before joining Hyphen, Kim was a graphic designer at Solgar Vitamins and Minerals, a graphic design manager at Lutheran Medical Center, and an art director for corporate projects at the College Board. She has also held art director posts at Creative Impact Communications and at GO&A Marketing Communications. Kim is a highly creative, award-winning art director/designer with a special expertise in conceptual design and communications goals, and she pays attention to detail.
Of the cover shot, she says “these Utah Juniper Pines are one of the native trees growing at Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah. I was hiking in the park in September 2017 when a summer storm came through and the sunlight touched this tree in a particular way that caught my eye. I wanted to show this tree bark in black and white to highlight the Juniper Pine’s beauty. I love trees, and these trees on the top plateau of Bryce Canyon National Park are magnificent!” Tree Bark is printed on Curious Collection Metallics Digital with i-Tone Ice Gold 111 cover.
A Message From Mohawk
HONORABLE MENTIONS
BOUQUET Barbara Kosoff Barbara Kosoff Design + Illustration Santa Monica CA |
DESIGNERS RESPONSIBILITY? Soudabeh Memarzadeh NSA+D San Diego CA |
DIGITAL LIGHT MAGIC Kathleen Guerrini Drexel Hill PA |
DIGITAL THINKING Brian Sabalinski Bcreative Design Clinton Township MI |
FAR OUT Cindy Ha Chandler AZ |
FLY Amanda Acevedo Chicago IL |
KIBBLE N 8-BITS Erik Borreson Erik Borreson Design Stevens Point WI |
LOVE POTION NO. 9 Lauren Hodges Madison AL |
MIDNIGHT STROLL Barry Barnes Trained Eye Graphics Emmett ID |
PIERRE THE ARTIST Timothy S. Kump Bullet Communications Joliet IL |
PIXEL EAGLE Edgar Allen Slothman West Hartford CT |
SIGNS ON THE ROAD OF LIFE Barbara Kosoff Barbara Kosoff Design + Illustration Santa Monica CA |
SPLASH Tess Delfina Nicole Velez New York NY |
THE OLD MILL Denise Brown ad-cetera graphics Portsmouth NH |
THE RAMEN DIET Lauren Hodges Madison AL |
TOUCAN Melanie Robles Berrios University of Puerto Rico Carolina PR |
USA COLOR CHIPS Randy Richards RandyRichardsDesign Noank CT |
VOTE Meghan Dee Professor Virginia Tech Blacksburg VA |
WIND FARM Peggy Hellem Four Winds Graphics Sherrodsville OH |
UNTITLED John Sposato John Sposato Design & Illustration 179 Hudson Terrace Piermont NY |
UNTITLED Nathan Stock [fn NODE] Los Angeles CA |