Award: 1st Place, Real Estate 2014
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 advertisement for Charity Cox of Long & Foster Real Estate earned 1st Place in the Real Estate category for 2014. The project presented a unique creative challenge: the client requested a high-impact layout that successfully blended a seasonal Halloween theme with a modern Instagram-inspired aesthetic.
To meet this goal, I developed a custom grid that utilized “Instagram-style” square photo framing and icon-driven graphics to showcase nearly 20 different property listings, while integrating playful seasonal elements like bats, ghosts, and candy corn to capture the Halloween spirit.
Judge’s Comments:
“Very nice design. Different layout works very well, really appealing. Nice use of theme and carrying it throughout the design. Very well done a different real estate ad in a very difficult creative landscape.”