2012 Scholarship Honorees April 29, 2012

Thank you to the 30 students from 10 schools who submitted their portfolios for the AIGA Minnesota, Clockwork, Franke+Fiorella, and Larsen Scholarships, and to the 6 students who applied for the Design Camp® Scholarship. Regards to the applicants! By taking part in this process, numerous applicants have demonstrated the intelligence and initiative it takes to be recognized for design excellence.

We were fortunate to have five respected leaders from the Minnesota design community judge applicants’ work and over $5,000 in scholarship contributions Special thanks to our judges and sponsors for their support:

• Dante Carlos, Senior Designer at Walker Art Center
• Craig Franke, Principal and Creative Director of Franke+Fiorella
• Tim Larsen, President of Larsen Design
• Rett Martin, Director of UX & Creative at Clockwork Active Media Systems
• Brent Stickels, Co-Founder and Principal of YYES (Design Camp Scholarship judge)

2012 AIGA Minnesota, Clockwork, Franke+Fiorella, and Larsen Scholarships

This year, the judges struggled to choose only the best four portfolios for the AIGA Minnesota, Clockwork, Franke+Fiorella, and Larsen awards. Six books were in strong contention to the very end.

• Cory Etzkorn, of the University of Minnesota, was awarded the $1,500 AIGA Minnesota Scholarship. View Cory’s portfolio site and download his awarded book.
• Cody Melhorn, of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, was awarded the $1,000 Clockwork Scholarship. View Cody’s portfolio site and download his awarded book.
• Kellie Schneider, of the College of Visual Arts, was awarded the $1,000 Franke+Fiorella Scholarship. View Kellie’s portfolio site.
• Megan Reiner, of Iowa State, was awarded the $1,000 Larsen Scholarship. View Megan’s portfolio site and download her awarded book.

Judging the AIGA Minnesota, Clockwork, Franke+Fiorella, and Larsen scholarships. L-R Craig Franke, Dante Carlos, Rett Martin, Tim Larsen	Kellie Schneider's scholarship-winning portfolio	Cody Melhorn's scholarship-winning portfolio
Cory Etzkorn's scholarship-winning portfolio	Megan Reiner's scholarship-winning portfolio	AIGA Minnesota board members with scholarship awardees. L-R Jennifer Price, Megan Rainer, Kellie Schneider, Cody Melhorn, Cory Etzkorn, Seth Johnson, Samantha Mancl and Thomas Wilz
Photos by Phong Tran

2012 Design Camp® Scholarship

Design Camp® Scholarship awardees receive complimentary student admission to the 2012 AIGA Minnesota Design Camp® conference, plus $600 to cover travel, lodging, and incidentals.

The Design Camp judge’s statement and response to the work:
Illustration was an interesting throughline of note in almost all the entries, some well handled and commercially viable, others clever but more appropriate, perhaps, relegated to conceptual sketches and not finished art. (While illustration is a valuable skill set, I’m viewing this as an overall design exercise, of which illustration is a component–not an endpoint).

A disappointing throughline was that every single poster submitted had a typo or grammatical error. Clients expect perfection–they’re paying us for it. Learn to deliver it. Learn to write well and you’ll go far. If you simply can’t write, find a great collaborator who can.

Last, congratulations to UW Stout for dominating the entries. I admire students who take advantage of every opportunity availed them.

But on to the selections.

Thomas Wilz’s poster shows an understanding of scale and typography, and while the Design Camp judge wished it had been pushed farther conceptually, the subtle analog and restrained color palette–reminiscent of an autumn in Nisswa–are both appropriate to the subject and visually appealing. His technique is well applied. Note to Thomas: resist the urge to use exclamation points in your copy. View Thomas’ portfolio site and download his awarded poster.

Samantha Mancl’s poster demonstrates a conceptually sound idea and has some good balance and motion. Again the Design Camp judge appreciated the simple color palette, but would challenge her to push her typographic decisions farther–especially in the body copy. Her work here illustrates thinking, not just decorating, which is a skill that will prove valuable as she develops her career. View Samantha’s portfolio site and download her awarded poster.

Congratulations to all of this year’s 2012 scholarship honorees!