Newswise — A 2009 graduate of the graphic design program at the University of Illinois at Chicago has received a Gold Cube award from the international Art Directors Club.
Renata Graw, who teaches graphic design at UIC as an adjunct assistant professor, received the award for a book she prepared for the 2016 Chicago Olympics using a typeface of her own design. Graw designed the book and typeface as part of her thesis for her master of fine arts degree.
"The book is about the process of designing a typeface," Graw said. "The final typeface is based on a strong, gridlike structure, reminiscent of the city -- a bold, dynamic movement that evokes the Olympics, and a sense of the humanity, friendship and pride."
Graw did not contact Olympics organizers about the book, but said, "I think the book would be a great resource for them, as it is a visual study of the city." Graw is a native of Rio de Janeiro, another site under consideration for the 2016 Olympics.
Graw received other awards for her book in design competitions held by the Type Directors Club and Step Inside 100, a design magazine. Both organizations will display the book in New York and in traveling exhibits.
The New York-based Art Directors Club is a 90-year-old association of creative professionals in advertising, design, and interactive media around the world. Thousands compete annually in dozens of categories for the club's black, bronze, silver and gold Cubes awarded for "creative leadership and innovation." Winners include the world's largest advertising agencies and corporations.
"This is a prestigious and highly competitive international competition. The only other student project to win a gold award was from the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany," said Marcia Lausen, director of the UIC School of Art and Design.
UIC ranks among the nation's top 50 universities in federal research funding and is Chicago's largest university with 25,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.
For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu
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