The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived! First of all I'd like to thank you all for participating this year and making the competition such a great success. We got a lot of coverage online this year as the competition is growing in popularity. Enough about all that— let's get to what you REALLY want: this year's winners. 1st Place Goes to Ramond Walker for his designs for Launch Ministries! 2nd Place Goes to Sherman Merchant for his designs for Oops! Creative: 3rd Place Goes to Ramond Walker for designs for Revolution: Awards of Distinction Winners Listed Below: Austin Beymer Joy Franzen David Willis Chelsea Davey Shawn Bender

Guest post  by Author Barbara Howell. Howell is the author of Splinters: The Pain, The Passion, The Point published by Paige1Publishing in Tulsa, OK. Howell is a member of the Oklahoma Writer's Federation, Inc., Tulsa Night Writers, and RHEMA Writer's Bloc. Recently, Howell's book, was chosen to appear in an upcoming release from Harper Collins Publishing, "The NEW Big Book of Layouts" honoring the best of the best in book design.

Before I began marketing my book, "Splinters: The Pain, The Passion, The Point" I was under the impression as most writers are, that the WRITING was the most important part of my book. And while, I'm not saying that the writing isn't important, a lesson that I learned early on as an author was the importance of the book cover and design itself.

Getting your work noticed and bursting through the door of opportunity is one of the biggest challenges for student designers. With that in mind, In Search of Design is proud to announce that the Student Identity Package Design Competition has officially began.  Online entry will be available before the day is over!

In the meantime, read the entry details and check out the awesome prizes being offered. If you are in school ANYWHERE. . . you're eligible to enter. Show us your creativity!

All the information you need to enter can be found here! Good luck!

I've got a confession to make. Of all the pieces that make up an identity package, my favorite by FAR is the business card. Why? The sheer flexibility it offers. There are NO limitations to what you can DESIGN with a business card. Any style, any shape, any color, and outlandish thing you can imagine can actually WORK as a business card. There is no other single design piece I've found that offer's so much flexibility. We've talked before about fake finishes design tricks and cheap ways to make a big difference, but let's look at some ideas that you can use to display your text. Text. We know that a business card HAS to contain information, and more often than not, it has to contain LOTS of information. Information that is ESSENTIAL to a strong business card. This alone, may sound like an overwhelming task, but what it REALLY is, is an overwhelming opportunity to do something great. Let's look at some inspiration for just such an occasion:

For those of you who are still scurrying to get your entries finished and entered, I wanted to take this opportunity to remind you that the competition will be closing in 15 DAYS! Don't wait till the last minute to get your entries finished!

In case you don't remember, you can read all the details of the competition here.

To get you thinking in the right direction, here are a few more sample Identity Packages you should check out! I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

Happy Creating!

What started as a small project for a College internship actually sparked a desire in my grandmother to share her life story. A woman, in a man's world, my grandmother has made a name for herself in carpentry. The kind of thing normally reserved for men. Forced into this career by circumstances beyond her control, she didn't set out to prove anything. Her only goal was survival and paying the huge debt she had been left with.

How did this project start? Looking for a worthwhile project for a senior internship, I looked to the interesting stories of my grandmother's customers. With clients, ranging from Patsy Cline's husband to children with special accomplishments I knew there was the makings of a great book.

This weekend, I'm sitting in Nashville, TN with the most recent fruits of my labor in front of me. I'm with the author of Splinters: The Pain. The Passion. The Point. and we are promoting her new book and signing copies for customers.

We have had a great time so far, talking with customers and seeing their excitement when they find themselves within the book.

It's almost that time of year! The 2nd Annual In Search of Design Student Identity competition will begin accepting entries on October 1st. Let's go over the rules--if you're currently a student or recently graduated and have STUDENT work you'd like to enter then you're eligible.

Unlike many other competitions, that charge exorbitant competition entry fees, The ISOD Iddy Awards is a strictly STUDENT Competition designed to expose the best of the best Student Identity Designs. The best part is, because we understand the expenses of higher education, this competition only costs $10 per entry.

Now, the best part! Because the contest is for Identity packages, each entry must consist of a student-designed, Logo, Business Card, Letterhead and Envelope. These pieces can be actual pieces created for clients, self promotional pieces or concept pieces created for fake or imaginary clients. Entries are based on the following criteria: Awards are granted for the following categories:

Grand Prizes: 1st Place -- Overall Package 2nd Place -- Overal Package 3rd Place -- Overall Package The Overall packages are judged based on the following criteria: Clarity of Message, Piece Integration, Consistency of Design, Overall Use of Color, Overall Creativity There are also Certificates awarded for the following criteria:

Logos: judged on the following criteria: Creativity, Use of Color, Uniqueness, "WOW" Factor, Scalability and Color Conversion to BW.

Letterhead: judged on the following criteria: Creativity, Use of Color, Logo Integration, Main Letter “Area”, Contact Info. Placement, Use of Whitespace, Overall Appearance

Envelopes: judged on the following criteria: Creativity, Use of Color, Logo Integration, Address Placement, Overall Appearance

Business Cards: judged on the following criteria: Creativity, Use of Color, Logo Integration, Placement of Elements, “WOW” Factor, Overall Appearance Click here for a breakdown of rules and award information.

The Entry deadline for the 2009 Competition is January 1st, 2010, students, start your designs!

If you've been anxiously awaiting the results of the 2nd annual In Search of Identity Student Design competition, your wait is almost over! The judges arein the final stages of judging and the winners will be announced officially on February 1st, 2010. This year, we've seen a tremendous growth in talent and professionalism among our entrants. If you weren't able to enter this year,get started on your 2010 entries! It's never too early! Thanks for participating, and we look forward to seeing this year's winners!

It seems everywhere we turn these days someone is preaching doom, despair and recession. I for one am not taking part in the recession as my business is busier than ever these days.

On a lighter note though, I recieved an email with the following logo images touting "How logos would change in a recession."

Enjoy!