AIGA Alaska Honor Alaska Business
Seeing the need for a tourist map of Utqiaġvik, Alaska Business printed one in the September magazine. The design won a Silver award from the American Institute of Graphic Arts local chapter.
Alaska Business
A cover design for Alaska Business magazine topped its category at The BIG One 2023 awards presentation by the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA) Alaska chapter. The magazine’s art department took home other honors alongside their peers in the marketing, publishing, and illustration fields.
Adventures in Design
In the category of Editorial and Illustration, the October 2022 issue took a Silver prize for its cover. Art director Monica Sterchi-Lowman recruited artist Lucas Elliott to create an image inspired by the “Choose Your Own Adventure” books, which was that month’s theme for the Top 49ers (Alaska companies ranked by gross revenue). The October 2022 cover has two versions, one featuring a growling monster looming over the scene. Elliott had added the monster as a doodle to a draft cover, which evolved into a variant distributed at the Top 49ers luncheon; both versions were submitted to AIGA.
Earlier this year, the October 2022 issue won Best Magazine Cover from the Alaska Press Club.
Best in Editorial and Illustration: 2022 Top 49ers Cover and October Issue.
Lucas Elliott, Illustrator; Monica Sterchi-Lowman, Art Directoṟ; Scott Rhode, Associate Editor; Tasha Anderson, Managing Editor
Also in the category, AIGA gave a Silver prize to Alaska Business web manager Patricia “PJ” Morales for designing a tourist map of Utqiaġvik in the September 2023 issue. Morales had visited Utqiaġvik in June and couldn’t find a handy walking map anywhere. To fill that need, a map was added to her previous photo essay assignment.
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“I was excited because I have experience with mapping in the Army,” Morales says. “I did a lot of AutoCAD drafting and airfield and construction surveys, so I’m used to that software.” She made it in Adobe Illustrator, and a special arrangement with Oregon-based printer Journal Graphics turned it into a fold-out page, which resulted in last-minute reshuffling of the entire magazine layout.
Morales says friends ask her where to get the map, and she tells them to tear it out. “They like the idea of having a map in our magazine,” she says, adding that a digital version is on the website.
Alaska Business shares the Silver award in Editorial and Illustration with Element Agency’s map for the 2024 Arctic Winter Games in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. The map is part of a package of materials that topped the Promotional and Marketing category with a Gold award.
Although the Editorial and Illustration category did not have a Gold winner, other categories had contenders that wowed the three-judge panel.
The Anchorage Museum design team won Gold in two categories. Its “Pass the Mic” exhibit was the top-ranked Environment and Experience. And for Logo and Identity Systems, the museum was honored for its Sukdu typeface, a display font tailored for the Dena’ina Athabascan language.
In the Publications category, Sterchi-Lowman was given Honorable Mentions for her designs of the April 2023 and Power List 2023 covers. Her cover for June 2023, with a photo by Kerry Tasker of Alaska Railroad CEO Bill O’Leary, was likewise recognized.
The June 2023 Alaska Business cover illustrated by Lance Lekander won Silver in the Publication category. Gold prizes went to Element Agency for its Valdez and Sitka travel guides, and Southcentral Foundation topped the category with its contribution to the Genshin Tarot fan-made card game.
Silver- Publications: Best of Alaska Business Cover.
Lance Lekander, Illustrator; Monica Sterchi-Lowman, Art Director
Gold Medal Graphics
Yuit Communications won Gold and “The BIG One 2023” Best in Show for its Chugach Alaska Corporation annual report.
Edmar Carrillo, Art Director; Mariajose Echeverria, Creative Director; Shauna Frazier, Art Director; Kayc Ulrich, Account Executive; Mackenzie Banbury, Photographer | Yuit Communications
Yuit Communications won Gold awards for its design of annual reports for Cook Inlet Region, Incorporated and Chugach Alaska Corporation, the latter of which also won the titular “BIG One,” Best in Show.
The People’s Choice award went to Alec Wilber for the interlocking “S” logo of a Dungeons & Dragons campaign, Solitary Seven. Wilber also won Gold for the theme of last year’s The Big ONE awards.
This year’s theme is by Jenna Roosdett of Jenna! Fleur designs, who won People’s Choice at last year’s AIGA Alaska awards. Her design of a seal on an ice floe was 3D printed into shiny trophies, which she hand painted.
For Morales, the awards presentation in Anchorage last Saturday was an opportunity to mingle with local architects, designers, and artists. “There were a lot of good pieces that I thought were a lot better than mine,” she says. The event showed her design trends and techniques that she’s eager to try.
Alaska Business Publishing Company is a sponsor of the local AIGA chapter.
Web manager PJ Morales says she was shocked to be honored with her first entry to the AIGA Alaska chapter.
Alaska Business
In their company kitchens, the Corporate 100 blend wholesome ingredients with exquisite utensils to create the scrumptious ambrosia that keeps employees gratified and contented. Meet the top Alaska employers ranked by number of Alaskans on their payroll, and learn the recipe for success. This issue also includes a focus on economic development initiatives in Anchorage and Kodiak.