Award

The winning entry will be awarded at least a $500 scholarship and the winning entry piece will be professionally printed for distribution by Lawton. Copies of the piece will be provided to the winner for his or her own use. Participants will be able to take home their final printed pieces. Lawton shall retain ownership of all entries and retain exclusive rights to the use of entries. The winning piece may be used as a sales collateral piece.

Judging of Entries

Judging will be done by a panel of independent print, marketing, and design professionals. The winner(s) will be recognized at the Awards Reception on March 15, 2023, at Lawton. Each entry will be produced as a finished piece.

The judges will apply the following criteria and select a winner, using their sole and absolute discretion. The judge’s determination of the winner will be binding and final to all participants.

Key Concepts and Judging Considerations

  • Entry is designed for the extremes of data
    The printed piece requires the students to understand how to design using text, graphics and artwork that will vary from piece to piece, but still cleanly fit within the master design. For example, if the student uses the recipient’s first name on their piece, the design must accommodate names like “Ed” or “Alexandria”.
  • Entry uses at least three variable data components
    Students are required to use at least three variable data fields – two text fields and one image field. They can do more if they’d like, keeping in mind that the variability makes sense in the overall piece.
  • Overall design elements such as typeface, balance, imagery, professionalism, etc.
  • Clean file submission in a PDF format. Appropriate bleeds, tagging for data, etc.
  • Tri-fold folds are properly aligned and setup
  • Entry is creative, innovative, or unique
  • Entry clearly meets the marketing objectives of the project
  • Entry is engaging and appropriate for the target audience
  • Entry meets high professional standards and is organized and free of errors
  • Entry is cohesive overall in terms of appearance, style, and structure