2020 College Design Contest

 

“Across the country, we see the same thing: crowds of marchers fighting for their rights, protesters peacefully assembling and a new fire for equality from the common citizen. As journalists, we carry that passion relentlessly; the passion for fairness, passion for storytelling and our passion for design.Now, more than ever, we face a divided nation. Each passing day more people fall victim to the hateful rhetoric flooding social media streams and word of mouth. But now, it’s time for our voice to be heard.We come together to share our work for the voiceless, and to emphasize the importance of storytelling across mediums. It’s about the countless stories we’ve told, the dedication of deadlines and the importance of ethical journalism.Share your voice and your work.

The Michigan State University Design Contest for College Students began in 2000 as a way for students to enter work done not only for a campus publication, but also projects done for a class, a job or an internship.

There are a number of beginning student designers who have demonstrated incredible talent, but they do so in the classroom or at a part-time job. In much the same way, some of the most talented visual journalists—for a variety of reasons—do not work at their campus newspaper. These students are usually ineligible for other college design competitions, where contest rules often limit entries to work done for a student newspaper or magazine. The MSU Design Contest was established to give those other students a voice in a national competition.

Congrats to the winners and thank you to all who entered!

Criteria

First Place
This award should be granted for work that defines the best in its category. It should be perfect or near perfect.
Second Place
This award should be granted for work that is outstanding in its category. It should have few, if any, flaws.
Third Place
This award should be granted for work that is impressive in its category. Technical and design skills are evident.
Honorable Mention
This award should be granted for work that is not in the top three in its category but shows innovation and potential.

Our judges

We want to thank our judges who have agreed to critique our entries. We couldn’t do it without you! They are:
Chris Courtney, Founder, New Pragmatic
Chris is the founder of the online education platform, NewPragmatic.com. With free curriculum and hundreds of video tutorials, the platform makes design education more accessible to more people. Prior to creating New Pragmatic, he led online design programs for Bloc.io and Thinkful.com.
Chris’s design career began in media, starting at the Tulsa World and Indianapolis Star before spending 14 years building digital and print products for the Tribune Company.
Julie Elman, Professor + Graduate Director, Ohio University, School of Visual Communication
Brian Gross, Designer, The Washington Post
Bjorn Heselius, Principal Designer, Nitor
Stefanie Kienstra, Graphic Design Manager, Cast & Guest Experience Strategy, The Walt Disney Company
Luis Rendon, Visual Journalist, New York City
Yuri Victor, Senior Editor for Storytelling, The Atlantic
Yuri is Senior Editor of Storytelling at The Atlantic. Previously, he’s worked in the largest U.S. newsrooms at the intersection of design, engineering, and news. He lives in New York City.
Randy Yeip, Graphics Editor, The Wall Street Journal
Andrea Zagata, News Designer, The New York Times
Andrea is a news designer at The New York Times. She graduated from Michigan State school of journalism in 2010 and has previously worked at The Cleveland Plain Dealer, The Buffalo News and The Detroit News. She lives in Manhattan with four cats and a puppy.

Below are the 2020 winners. They are now posted! Congratulations to all the winners! Thank you for your interest in the contest!

FRONT PAGE DESIGN

    • FIRST PLACE
      • Emily Wright
    • Ball State University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Genna Barner
    • Michigan State University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Annie Aguiar
    • Indiana University

SPORTS PAGE DESIGN

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Emily Sutton
    • University of North Carolina

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Julia Johnson
    • University of North Carolina

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Matt Rasnic
    • Indiana University

FEATURE PAGE DESIGN

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Peter Elima
    • University of Alberta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Cecilia Sit
    • University of North Carolina

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Peter Elima
    • University of Alberta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Sarah Allam, Katie Getman
    • Syracuse University

SPECIAL SECTIONS

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Caroline Norton, Emma Barber, Meredith Ammons, Elizabeth Bryant, Valentina Arismendi, Eleanor Burcham, Annie Rudisill, Niki Suchy, Moss Rahman, Cecilia Sit, Maddie Fetsko, Melissa Fernandez, Julia Haynes, Lucy Rose, Alex Ballard, Will Hausen
    • University of North Carolina

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Karina Sloan
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Talia Trackim, Sarah Allam
    • Syracuse University

MAGAZINE COVER

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Reilly Branson
    • School of the Art Institute of Chicago

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Caroline Norton
    • University of North Carolina

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Lua Presidio, Alex Vanderput
    • University of British Columbia

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Cat Cao
    • School of the Art Institute of Chicago

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Annie Aguiar
    • Indiana University

MAGAZINE SPREAD

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Ishita Sharp
    • School of the Art Institute of Chicago

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Valentina Arismendi, Elizabeth Bryant
    • University of North Carolina

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Roberta Nicastro, Krista Knudtsen
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Peter Elima, Yuri Marquez
    • University of Alberta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

ALTERNATIVE STORY FORMAT

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Angie Shen
    • University of North Carolina

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Will Hausen
    • University of North Carolina

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Cat Cao
    • The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Emily Cunningham
    • University of North Carolina

ART & ILLUSTRATION

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Kire Torres
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Erynn Affeldt
    • University of North Carolina

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Kat Ash
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Emma Barber
    • University of North Carolina

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Karina Sloan
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Herok Kim
    • SCAD Atlanta

DIGITAL STORYTELLING

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Diane Adame, Kailyn Akers, Jason Armond, Abby Cantrell, María Alejandra Cardona Aizpurúa, Chris Carmichael, Bryan Cereijo, Nash Consing, Brooklynn Cooper, Landon Cooper, Sally Dillon, Catie Dull, Ashton Eleazer, Brooke Fisher, Haley France, Laura Andrea García Giraldo, Tenley Garrett, Xiaoke Ji, Alex Kormann, Lyric Lin, Patty Matos, Patsy Montesinos, Peggy Mullin, Juan David Ochoa Jiménez, Andrea Orozco Sáenz, Sara Pequeño, Andie Rea, Margarita María RestrepoZayrha Rodriguez, Carlos Salas, Amy Townsend, Laura Trujillo Arango, Martin Villandeda Gomez, Maria Elena Vizcaino
    • University of North Carolina

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Abby Cantrell, Abe Loven, Adrien Clark, Alli Rowe, Ari Sen, Bryan Cereijo, Charlotte Harris, CriShaun Hardy, Emily Caroline Sartin, Hope Davison, Kirby Caraballo, Lucas Pruitt, Madison Hoffmann, Nash Consing, Noah Long, Zayrha Rodriguez, Haya Al-Qaq, Sara Pequeno, Annabeth Poe, Samantha Perry, Gavry Eshet, Elizabeth Ranatza, Sarah Kreitzer
    • University of North Carolina

INFOGRAPHICS

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Valentina Arismendi
    • University of North Carolina

    • SECOND PLACE
    • William Hausen
    • University of North Carolina

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Mingxuan Shen
    • University of North Carolina

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Valentina Arismendi
    • University of North Carolina

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Mingxuan Shen
    • University of North Carolina

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Emily Sutton
    • University of North Carolina

PROMOTIONS & ADVERTISING

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Peter Elima, Helen Zhang
    • University of Alberta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Matt Rasnic
    • Indiana University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Isabella Vaccaro
    • Miami (Fla.) University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Iara Faria
    • SCAD Atlanta

STANDALONE MULTIMEDIA

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Molly Bolan, Kristine Klein
    • Syracuse University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Kevin Camelo, Amy Nakamura
    • Syracuse University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Annie Aguiar, Jacob deCastro
    • Indiana University

BEST-DESIGN STUDENT MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

    • FIRST PLACE
    • SCAN Magazine
    • SCAD Atlanta

BEST STUDENT NEWS SITE

    • FIRST PLACE
    • SCAD Connector
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • f Newsmagazine
    • The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Ball State Daily News
    • Ball State University

BEST-DESIGNED STUDENT NEWSPAPER

    • FIRST PLACE
    • fNewsMagazine
    • The School of the Art Institute of Chicago

    • SECOND PLACE
    • The Ubyssey
    • The University of British Columbia

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Ball State Daily News
    • Ball State University

STUDENT DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Peter Elima
    • University at Alberta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Annie Aguiar
    • Indiana University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Roberta Nicastro
    • SCAD Atlanta

Below are the 2019 winners. We will keep these posted due to the interest in past years. Thank you for your interest in the contest!

FRONT PAGE DESIGN

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Stephanie Hays
    • Elon University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Amy Nakamura
    • Syracuse University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Matt Rasnic
    • Indiana University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Jacob McFadden
    • Virginia Commonwealth University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Lucy Naland
    • Syracuse University

SPORTS PAGE DESIGN

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Christiano Benicio Pinto
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Clarissa Duarte, Giovanna Abrantes, Maria Gabriela Neves, Talita Viegas
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – UFRJ

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Elson Teixeira, Barbara Frast, Marcela Lobo, Luana Carolina
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de janeiro

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Dillon Davis
    • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

FEATURE PAGE DESIGN

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Elson Teixeira, Barbara Frast, Marcela Lobo, Luana Carolina
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Sarah Rada, Ali Harford, Bridget Slomian
    • Syracuse University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Erynn Affeldt
    • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Matt Rasnic
    • Indiana University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Carter Frye
    • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

SPECIAL SECTIONS

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Christiano Benicio Pinto
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Jason Armond, Lauren Wilkinson, Mary Carson Wells, Haley Hodges, Thomas Squire Jr., Tyler Trocinski, Samantha Beltran, Anna Bradsher, Katelyn Mottesheard, Asia Chou, Irene Zhou, Joy Lackey, Sam Collins, Sally Dillon, Zita Voros
    • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Tyler Judson, Austin Klubenspies
    • SCAD Atlanta

MAGAZINE COVER

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Gabrielle Arduini, Anya Haber
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Teddy Willson
    • University of Miami

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Erynn Affeldt
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Erynn Affeldt
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

MAGAZINE SPREAD

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Teddy Willson
    • University of Miami

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Austin Klubenspies, Selina Lemoon, Anya Haber, Mackenzie Lachey
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Teddy Willson
    • University of Miami

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Jiani Xiao
    • Ohio University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Austin Klubenspies, Helen Choi
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Teddy Willson
    • University of Miami

ALTERNATIVE STORY FORMAT

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Katelyn Mottesheard
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Carter Frye
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Rachel Raasch
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

ART & ILLUSTRATION

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Hengguang Li
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Hengguang Li
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Kat Ash
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Adam Coe
    • SCAD Atlanta

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Christopher Turner
    • Ohio University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Sarah Allam
    • Syracuse University

INFOGRAPHICS

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Christiano Benicio Pinto
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Veronika Graf
    • University of Applied Sciences Augsburg

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Christiano Benicio Pinto
    • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Asia Chou
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Erynn Affeldt
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Kailyn Akers
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

PROMOTIONS & ADVERTISING

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Jacob deCastro
    • Indiana University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Willard West
    • American University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Jiani Xiao
    • Ohio University

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Jiani Xiao
    • Ohio University

Standalone Multimedia

    • First Place (tie)
    • Maxim Vaganov
    • Higher School of Journalism, Tomsk State University, Russia, Siberia

    • First Place (tie)
    • Peyton Chance, Danielle Chemtob, Matt Couch, Hanna Davison, Alexis Fairbanks, Kaia Findlay, Rob Gourley, Kaitlin Harlow, Jasmin Herrera, Alice Hudson, Connie Hanzhang Jin, Nathan Klima, Alex Kormann, Marissa O’Neil, Gabrielle Palacio, Aubrey Patti, Katie Rice, Elle Sommerville, Maria Elena Vizcaino, Madison Walls, Avery Williams, Darian Woehr, Justin Wynn, Ruijia Zhang
    • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

    • Second Place
    • Samantha Güt
    • Ohio University

    • Third place
    • Stephanie Hays
    • Elon University

    • Honorable Mention
    • Stefanie Urmas, Rosemarie Alejandrino, Isabel Castillo, Margaux Gjurasic, Maggie Suszka, Maya Tellez, Ruifeng Weng
    • University of Southern California

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR

    • FIRST PLACE
    • “Distraction,” by team of students
    • University of Miami

    • SECOND PLACE
    • “Scan,” by a team of students
    • SCAD Atlanta

BEST STUDENT DESIGNED WEBSITE

    • FIRST PLACE
    • “The Selkups,” by Maxim Vaganov
    • Higher School of Journalism, Tomsk State University, Russia, Siberia)

    • SECOND PLACE
    • “Indiana Daily Student,” Matt Rasnic
    • Indiana University

    • THIRD PLACE
    • “The Connector,” by a team of students
    • Indiana University

BEST STUDENT NEWSPAPER

    • FIRST PLACE
    • “Indiana Daily Student,” by a team of students.
    • Indiana University

    • SECOND PLACE
    • “The Post,” by a team of students
    • Ohio University

STUDENT DESIGNER OF THE YEAR

    • FIRST PLACE
    • Maxim Vaganov
    • Higher School of Journalism, Tomsk State University, Russia, Siberia

    • SECOND PLACE
    • Joey Haas
    • University of Miami

    • THIRD PLACE
    • Matt Rasnic
    • Indiana Univeresity

    • HONORABLE MENTION
    • Austin Klubenspies
    • SCAD Atlanta