The Society of Publication Designers

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Announcing our 2021 Student Competition Winners!

After our virtual judging, we’ve picked the top winners in our 2021 SPD-U Student Competition! We’ll be announcing them over the next few weeks leading up to the 56th Annual SPD Awards presentation in mid-June and updating the list here. Special thanks to our judges Derek Eng, José Fernández, Ben Grandgenett, Haley Kluge, and Chelsea Schiff for taking the time to review all of the entries and to our Student Competition Chairs Raymond Ho and Katie Belloff for organizing.

This year’s judging marked the 23rd year of holding our Annual SPD-U Student Competition and we expanded the competition this year with the inclusion of new Illustration and Photography categories, alongside our Design categories. After multiple rounds of virtual judging and Zoom meetings, our panel of judges carefully chose their picks from all the great student work submitted. They selected first, second, and third-place winners as well as some noteworthy entries. Click their names below to see the winning work.

Special thanks to B&A Reps, the exclusive sponsor of the 2021 SPD-U Scholarships. B&A is a global management company representing a diverse group of creators including illustrators, photographers, CGI artists, design studios, stylists and beauty artists.

Congratulations to all our winners and to all the wonderful entries we received!

Watch the 56th Annual SPD Awards here!


It’s A Tie! First Place - Design


Nina Avery

School: Norwich University of the Arts
Level: Third Year
Instructor: Andrew Johnson
Subject Leader: Glen Robinson
Category: Sports/Adventure

Victoria Escobar

School: Maryland Institute College of Art
Level: Senior
Instructor: Jeff Glendenning
Category: City/Regional

First Place - Illustration


June Lee

School: Pratt Institute
Level: Senior
Instructor: Cheryl Gross
Category: Editorial


Second Place - Design


Elena Pejovska

School: Kean University
Level: Junior
Instructors: Nancy Campbell and Trevett McCandliss
Category: How-To

Second Place - Illustration


Shahrzad Soroosh

School: OCAD University
Level: Senior
Instructor: Gary Taxali
Category: Portrait


Third Place - Design


Sarah Scambray

School: Southern Methodist University
Level: Junior
Instructor: Mark Allen
Category: Sports/Adventure

Third Place - Illustration


Cindy Garcia

School: Queens College
Level: Senior
Instructor: Debra Priestly
Category: Portrait


Noteworthy - Design


Antonio Geroldi

School: Kean University
Level: Senior
Instructors: Nancy Campbell and Trevett McCandliss
Category: Fashion/Lifestyle

Nicki Irwin

School: Montana State University
Level: Senior
Instructor: Meta Newhouse
Category: Fashion/Lifestyle

Noteworthy - Photography


Shaye Wiley

School: Texas Christian University
Level: Senior
Category: Portrait