UHV Marketing & Communications wins award for poster, event materials
The University of Houston-Victoria Marketing & Communication Department recently received two honors for outstanding design work in an international competition that attracted about 6,500 entries.
George Rodriguez, a UHV graphic designer, won a MarCom platinum award in the poster category for a piece promoting the 2015 UHV Society for Critical Exchange Winter Theory Institute. In addition, UHV’s marketing and communications staff won a MarCom gold award in the category of special events for the 2013-2014 President’s Annual Report & Excellence Awards website and collateral pieces.
The MarCom Awards is an international competition recognizing outstanding creative achievements by marketing and communication professionals. Entries come from corporate marketing and communications departments, advertising agencies, public relations firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers. The awards are judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals.
Only 16 percent of the entries received a platinum award. About 23 percent were gold award winners and around 10 percent received honorable mention.
Platinum winners were recognized for their excellence in terms of quality, creativity and resourcefulness. Rodriguez’s poster featured a man shackled to the letter b of “debt,” which was the subject for the Society for Critical Exchange event. Rodriguez previously was awarded Best of Print and a Gold ADDY award for the poster from the Victoria chapter of the American Advertising Federation.
“We’re constantly amazed at the artistic abilities of Mr. Rodriguez,” said Shane Blucher, UHV creative services manager. “I’m pleased he’s receiving this much-deserved recognition for his design.”
A Port Lavaca native, Rodriguez has worked at UHV since 2012. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design from the International Academy of Design & Technology in San Antonio. He previously designed ads, Web banners, postcards and posters at Sharkmatic Advertising in San Antonio.
UHV’s gold award encompassed the website and event pieces made for the 2013-2014 President’s Annual Report & Excellence Awards. The marketing staff previously won Best of Show and a Gold ADDY award in February for the website uhvannualreport.com from the Victoria chapter of AAF.
“I am thrilled that the UHV Marketing & Communications team has received recognition both locally and internationally for the 2013-2014 annual report website and print pieces,” said Paula Cobler, director of the department. “The annual report is a collaboration between the entire staff each year, and it’s nice to have this validation right before the university’s 2014-2015 annual report is released.”
Members of UHV Marketing & Communications who worked on the annual report website and event pieces were Cobler; Blucher; Rodriguez, Melody Vecera, former creative services manager and a UHV alumna; Jeremy Shapiro, communications manager; Akalina Sanchez, graphic designer; Lonnie Holcombe, Web developer; Lauren Emerson, communications specialist; and Della Rampley, administrative secretary.
UHV has won nine MarCom awards since 2011.
The University of Houston-Victoria, located in the heart of the Coastal Bend region since 1973 in Victoria, Texas, offers courses leading to more than 80 academic programs in the schools of Arts & Sciences; Business Administration; and Education, Health Professions & Human Development. UHV provides face-to-face classes at its Victoria campus, as well as an instructional site in Katy, Texas, and online classes that students can take from anywhere. UHV supports the American Association of State Colleges and Universities Opportunities for All initiative to increase awareness about state colleges and universities and the important role they have in providing a high-quality and accessible education to an increasingly diverse student population, as well as contributing to regional and state economic development.
