Award: 2nd Place, Multiple Advertisers and Themed Pages 2016
Competition: Virginia Press Association (VPA) Annual Advertising Contest
Publication: The News Virginian
During my time at The News Virginian, I continued to represent our publication in the Virginia Press Association (VPA) annual awards. The VPA is a statewide organization that recognizes excellence across Virginia’s media landscape, with entries evaluated by objective, out-of-state judges to ensure high standards of creative strategy and technical skill.
This “Adopt a Pet” sponsorship page for the Augusta County SPCA earned 2nd Place in the Multiple Advertisers and Themed Pages category for 2016. Managing monthly recurring pages requires constant innovation to keep the content fresh for readers and effective for the local business sponsors involved.
Design Strategy:
- Creative Thematic Innovation: To liven up the October edition, I developed the concept of placing the adoptable animals in digital “costumes”—ranging from witches and wizards to pirates and superheroes—to create a festive and engaging Halloween theme.
- Complex Grid Management: Balanced eleven individual pet photos and detailed biographies with their respective local business sponsors, maintaining a clean and professional hierarchy despite the high volume of information.
- Cohesive Visual Branding: Utilized a consistent spiderweb background and a warm, autumnal orange color palette to tie the diverse sponsorship blocks together into a single, eye-catching narrative.
- Success Story Integration: Included a dedicated “Thanks to our Sponsors” section to highlight pets adopted from the previous month, reinforcing the page’s community impact and value to advertisers.