Wagner Design Associates Blog

Since I am fairly new to Wagner Design, I am learning a great deal about graphic design in Ann Arbor. One of the most interesting ways for me to get to know our company has been getting ready for the ADDY competition. Basically, the  ADDY Awards are the Oscars of advertising. According to their website the ADDY Awards have over 60,000 entries a year and “represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world.” The competition starts at a local level, moves to a district level, then goes on to a regional level, and finally peaks at a national competition. It’s put together by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), which is supported in part by ad clubs around the nation, including the Ann Arbor Ad Club (of which, Wagner Design is a member.)

So, every January, with a resolute spirit, Wagner Design looks back through
our year of creativity. We ponder what we did well and what we can do even
better in the next year. Some of our past submissions (and winners) have showcased the fun, highly creative, and professional work we do. One of our favorites was the retirement campaign for the beloved head of United Bank and Trust in 2006. For him, we created a HICKMANOPOLY game, with supporting “Chance” and “Community Chest” cards, properties, and money that played on Hickman’s image and bank branches in the surrounding communities. When this campaign won a people’s choice ADDY, Jill, Laura, Kathy, and Kristin went to celebrate after the gala. While at Bab’s, they spotted a photo booth–one of those mall types that spits out four photos in a row–and decided to try it out. What resulted was inspiration to take those four little photos and create a self-promotional ad, which also won an ADDY the following year.

I’m not only excited to see what happens with this year’s competition, but
also to be a part of the kind of creativity that happens at Wagner Design. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for the big day.