The Association for Print Technologies (APTech) and Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA have announced the winners of the 2020 Student Design Competition. The 2020 competition themed, “Mail Matters!”, challenged students to design a personalized tangible mail piece complete with a call-to-action. This year’s entries ran the gamut of possible direct mail items including postcards, brochures, booklets, envelopes, and folding carton mailers.

Now in its twelfth year, the annual contest calls on students to demonstrate their knowledge of designing for and producing a printed product; executing the steps from design concept to file preparation to printed output. Entries were judged on a number of criteria including adherence to the guidelines set forth in the contest description and cohesiveness of the design throughout the entire piece.

As many students were unable to produce a final printed and finished piece for this year’s contest due to COVID-19, Konica Minolta supported this program by producing several of the final pieces for consideration. The success of this year’s program is due in great part to Konica Minolta’s generosity.

An independent panel of industry judges chose six winners from among the 46 entries – three at the secondary school level and three at the post-secondary school level.

Winners at the secondary school level

• 1st Place: Mia Passarella, Walton High School, Marietta, GA (Dan Campagna)
• 2nd Place: Mario Braxton, Jr., Gary D. Bixhorn Technical Center, Bellport, NY (Talia Mochi-Cliffe)
• 3rd Place: Abby Carter, Mattoon High School, Mattoon, IL (Laura Roberts)

Winners at the post-secondary school level

• 1st Place: Mandana Yaghini, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA (Steve Gonsowski)
• 2nd Place: Manal Alfehaily, Saddleback College, Mission Viejo, CA (Steve Gonsowski)
• 3rd Place: Vivian Prescott, OSUIT, Okmulgee, OK (Mary Miller)

First-place winners will each receive a US$ 2,000 check. The second-place winners will each be awarded US$ 1,500, and the third-place winners will each receive US$ 1,000.

“A printed product has the potential to make a huge impact,” says Thayer Long, president of APTech. “These students demonstrate the creativity, technical know-how and marketing savvy needed to make a printed mailer a success. We congratulate the winners and all those who participated in this year’s competition.”

The winning entries will be featured on the APTech website and on our APTech social media channels.