UD students win awards for graphic design

Five UD graphic design majors win Hermes Awards in a national contest.

Alex Goodlive
Contributing Writer

Five senior graphic design majors from Dayton were winners in the Hermes Awards, which one student described as “a coalition that promotes and protects the well-being of advertising.” 

The Hermes Awards are the first of a three-tier national contest that is hosted by the American Advertising Federation (AAF). The annual event celebrates designs in advertising and receives close to 35,000 entries a year. Applicants submitted their entries through the website of the Dayton chapter of the AAF.

Five UD students – all who studied graphic design – were honored at the Hermes Awards.

Applicants submitted works of various mediums that the students had created this year for their portfolios and the faculty of the UD Department of Art and Design reviewed and suggested pieces of merit, possibly suggesting edits if necessary.


Senior Graphic Design major Emily Cordonnier received two silver medals and a bronze in the awards that were given to college students.

Cordonnier received silver for her “Sound of the Wind” book and her “That’s the Spirit” infographic.

Another senior Graphic Design major, Megan Farnan, also received silver for her “Bay of Fundy” infographic poster. The two will advance to the regional competition where they may then advance to the national competition.

Cordonnier, along with Grace Burke, a fellow senior graphic design major who redesigned packaging for Better than Bouillon jars, said that graphic design majors who may be interested in the contest should tell their professors and to listen to any feedback they receive.

“Push yourself out of your comfort zone when working on a project,” Farnan said.

“Work with an open mind and create projects centered off of your genuine interests. And lastly, there is nothing wrong with failure — you just might surprise yourself in the process.”

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