Overview
Graphex 08 is an Icograda-endorsed National design competition celebrating The Best of Visual Communication in Canada since 1977. The primary goal of Graphex is to promote the value of design to the Canadian public and business community Good Design Is Good Business as well as creating an archive of Canadian design for future generations to study and reflect upon.

Every Two years Graphex invites passionate communication designers, web designers, typographers, photographers, illustrators, art directors, ad agencies, printers, writers and clients from across Canada to submit their very best published cultural, social and business communications in all mediums.

As part of the GDC s mandate to create an ongoing archive of Canadian design, Graphex 08 is a national event - open to all Canadians, with discounts given to professional members of design associations such as GDC, RGD and SGDQ. All submissions are accompanied by an explanation of the design criteria stating the challenges or requirements of the project and the rationale for the design solution to be eligible. At the conclusion of the competition phase, a travelling exhibit of the winners tours Canada showcasing the work to the public.

Graphex thrives on learning from and rewarding those designers who are addressing increasingly complex and diverse creative challenges through smart alliances. It is these partnerships with other media experts that yield communication materials for our clients that are appropriate, effective, thought-provoking, and above all, worthy of being recognized.

The competition is broken into categories, with awards given for the best in each. Categories include: Advertising, Annual Reports, Editorial/Magazine, Books, Brochures, Calendars, Catalogues, Logos, Corporate Identity, Stationery, Invitations, Manuals, Multimedia, Websites, Packaging, Posters, Self Promotion, Signage, Environmental, Type Design, and Other.

Theme
The Graphex Awards competition is to promote the value of design to the Canadian business community Good Design Is Good Business as well as creating an archive of Canadian design for future generations to study and reflect upon. As such, the theme for Graphex 08 is built around the theory, structure and visual language of the tournament ladder and concept of zeitgeist. The graphic language is very much about info-graphics with many items on the left side representing the input , or distillation process down to one final selection (the winner or the solution) with the other side representing the impact on society or reach of that winner or solution.

The purpose of the theme is to carry the idea throughout all the promotional pieces as a way to not only express aspects of the competition itself (like a tournament), but to educate, inform and inspire that great creative could have a larger impact than we often realize or recognize. The structure lends for interpretation into other forms for use on other pieces, such as: The distillation of an idea and potential reaction on society, or The influences and steps in the design process and the implementation, execution and results.

Who can enter
Graphex 08 is a national event open to all Canadian graphic designers, typographers, photographers, illustrators, art directors, ad agencies, printers, writers or clients.

What to enter
As part of the GDC s mandate to create an ongoing archive of Canadian design, submit your best work published in or for use in Canada between October 2005 and October 2007.

Design Rationales
All entries must be accompanied by the design criteria stating the challenges or requirements of the project and the rationale for the design solution to be eligible.

Entry Fees
Submission fees are $95 per entry. GDC, RGD Ontario, and SGDQ members in good standing qualify for reduced entry fees of $65 per entry. Payment information can be found at www.gdc.net/graphex.

Judges
The Graphex 08 jury will be convening in Vancouver, BC on Friday Nov 30, 2007 for a special Judges evening and social at Roundhouse in Yaletown (details to be confirmed on www.gdc.net/graphex) Confirmed judges are:

• Michael Jager (founder/Creative Director, Designer, Jager Di Paola Kemp Design (JDK) Design, Vermont, USA)
• Stanley Hainsworth (Former Creative Director Nike, VP/Global Brand Director Starbucks, Seattle, WA, USA)
• Peter Steiner (Designer, G+A, Montreal, Canada)
• Marian Bantjes (typographer, designer, illustrator, writer, Canadian, Quatrifolio, Bowen Island, BC, Canada)
• Sam Carter (Design Historian, Educator, Canadian, Emily Carr, West Vancouver, BC, Canada)
• Jamie Koval (Creative Director, VSA Partners, Chicago, IL, USA)

Awards
Each winning entry will received two certificates, with custom cnc-machined trophies awarded to the Judges Choices (one per judge). Decisions of the judges are final. Please see website for dates of awards and notification. A Gala Awards Ceremony & Dinner will be held on March 28, at the prestigious Vancouver Club with a mini trade show for sponsors.

Exhibition
The winning entries will be exhibited in Pendulum Gallery of the HSBC Building, 885 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, April, 2008. Locations and dates for a cross Canada tour of the exhibit will be announced in May, 2008 at www.gdc.net

For more information, contact the Co-Chairs of the event:

Mark Busse
E:

or

Cory Ripley
E: events.bc@gdc.net

W: www.gdc.net/graphex