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For the UCDA Design Awards, we’ve assembled a panel of judges composed of designers, design educators, photographers, and illustrators. Your work will be peer-reviewed independently in each competition by others who understand the environments in which you create.

2023 Judges:

PHOTOGRAPHY JUDGES

MATTHEW LESTER

Matthew Lester is commercial and editorial photographer specializing in admissions photography for higher education. He’s a design-thinker that captures the spirit and energy of campuses across the country. As well, Matthew has travelled to more than 30 countries, to places like Afghanistan to document girls’ education and to Eastern Congo to tell the story of refugees from the country’s decades-ling conflict. This work has made him incredibly adaptable to changing situations. He based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and enjoys books, being in the kitchen and out in the woods.

AMANDA PITTS

Amanda Pitts is the photography services manager in the office of University Communications at Grand Valley State University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Photography from GVSU in 2005, and her Master of Communications from GVSU in 2010. Amanda has been at the university for 15 years during which time on any given day she might be found on the tops of buildings, deep underground, on a frozen waterfall, in a helicopter, on a boat, underwater, flying a drone, and sometimes even in her office!
 
Amanda is also an active member of the University Photographers Association of America, currently serving her second term on the board as the Corporate Relations Chair. She has won numerous awards from both UPAA and CASE during her time at GVSU.
 
When she is not at work, she likes to spend time with her family participating in tickle fights, scootering, hiking, camping, and especially cuddle time with her son, two cats and dog. But Amanda’s most very favorite thing to do, besides researching random useless things on the internet, is to annoy her family by stopping to take pictures every five minutes while on vacation!

ALYSSA STONE

Alyssa Stone is a passionate storyteller and staff photographer for Northeastern University.

Previously Alyssa worked at The Enterprise of Brockton, a daily newspaper located in Southeastern Massachusetts. Coverage included 11 distinct communities from varying socioeconomic and multicultural backgrounds.

She is a graduate of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. When not at work she is an avid outdoor explorer with a penchant for all dogs, winter sports and rock climbing.

ILLUSTRATION JUDGES

CATHERINE A. MOORE

Catherine A. Moore is an art educator and freelance illustrator, based out of Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently an associate professor of art at Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Georgia and holds an MFA in Illustration from the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Catherine specializes in portraiture and botanical illustration for editorial, advertising, and branding illustration. Catherine's selected clients include The Washington Post, Ralph Lauren, Men’s Health Magazine, Atlanta Magazine, San Diego Magazine, Country Archer, Paris Baguette USA, UNC Press, Sovos Brands, and BuzzFeed News. Her illustration has been featured multiple times in Creative Quarterly and her portrait of President Joe Biden for the Washington Post inauguration issue was a Selected Winner for the American Illustration 40 book. Her portrait of Jimmy Carter is in the collection of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum. She is currently writing a textbook for Bloomsbury UK on political illustration.

SHAUNA LYNN PANCZYSZYN

Shauna Lynn Panczyszyn is a lettering artist and children’s book illustrator with a passion for cold brew, wine, and figure skating, located in the Chicago area where she works out of her home studio with her studio pup, Teddy Bear. She’s been working professionally since 2010 and has worked with clients such as Simon & Schuster, Adobe, Facebook, and many others.

In 2021, she made a pivot into children’s book illustration and has since worked on several children’s books for publishers such as Simon & Schuster, Penguin Workshop, and Feiwel & Friends.

In her free time you can find her at the local ice rink skating, drinking chai lattes in the local coffee shop, snuggling her dog, or playing video games.

SHAN WELLS

Shan Wells is is the videographer for Fort Lewis College, and is a sculptor, filmmaker and illustrator. He attended Art Center College of Design in California and the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where he studied under Andrew Drummond and completed a Master of Fine Arts in 1998.

Shan illustrated a weekly political cartoon for the Durango Telegraph, an independent weekly newspaper in Durango, Colorado, from 2002 to 2021. He retired from political illustration after 19 years citing the need for white men to "shut up and listen," and the lack of input from "underrepresented voices" in U.S. political discourse. Shan also blogged as a cartoonist for the Huffington Post from 2009 to 2016.

STUDENT JUDGES

PIERRE BOWINS
Pierre Bowins is an assistant professor at George Mason University School of Art. His twenty-plus years in the design field have provided him with a broad view to prepare students for the future of emerging trends in art and design’s contemporary practice. His design and teaching methods utilize research-based theories to assist in the discovery of personal, cultural, and historical identities while implementing design ideas within analog and digital media.
 
An educator, design historian, writer, and lifelong maker, his research focuses on exploring the Black American diaspora omitted from the history of graphic design and investigating the imbalances within design history. Pierre is a vocal advocate for rediscovering the contributions of Black American designers. He continues to build on his collection of archival works from notable Black designers of the past and has exhibited this collection at various educational institutions. He is a co-curriculum designer and co-author for Black Design in America: African Americans and the African Diaspora in Graphic Design from the 19th through the 21st Century, a series of pre-recorded BIPOC-centered history courses which is also scheduled to be published in book form in the Fall of 2023.
 
Pierre holds a Master of Fine Arts from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Maryland Institute College of Art.

MICHAEL CLAYTON
Michael Clayton has been a professor of graphic design at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, since 2001. He has taught courses in foundation design, image making, user interface (web) design, and motion graphics. He earned his BFA and MFA in Graphic Design from Utah State University.
 
Michael co-authored Visual Design Fundamentals: A Digital Approach with Alan Hashimoto (Cengage, Editions 1-3) and has contributed content to five other books. His current research topics include GUI design systems for video games, responsive web design, and visual note taking (aka sketchnoting) and graphic recording.
 
He has given presentations and taught workshops for AIGA (local and national), UCDA Design Education Summit, Design Principles & Practices, TechEd California, the John Hopkins Sibley Innovation Hub, the International Sketchnote Camps in Hamburg and Lisbon, VizThink Berlin, and to other professional and community groups around the world.

MISTY THOMAS-TROUT

Misty Thomas-Trout is an associate professor in graphic design at the University of Dayton. Her creative research includes print-based and community-based design, writing and letterpress printing.

In 2023, Misty was awarded Gold and Bronze in the International Indigo Design Awards. Her poster design, No. 1 Available to All won Honorable Mention in the Graphis International, juried design competition and was published in the Graphis Poster Annual 2022. Her recent graphic design research, Atlas of Dayton: A City in Progress won an Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Excellence Award for FY 2021. She won Silver in the International Indigo Design Awards and a Gold Hermes/ADDY Award in 2019 for the Department of Art + Design Sketchbook. She won Best of Show in the Athens Voices USA 2015 and has been awarded Gold Hermes/ADDY Awards, Silver ADDY District Competition, Hermes Judges Award Honor of Excellence and Award of Excellence at the UCDA Design Awards. 

PRINT JUDGES

MARVIN EANS

Marvin Eans is a professor and professional, currently serving as the chair and assistant professor of art and design at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. Additionally, he holds a position of co-chair of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee at the same university.

Marvin is an experienced and award-winning graphic designer and artist. His works are showcased in national and international exhibition spaces, and book cover designs are featured as New York Times Best Sellers for world-renowned authors. Marvin’s creative pursuits are grounded in research that explores the intersection between traditional and digital art formats and their impact on visual messaging. His passion for design that positively impacts culture is evident in his work, which seeks to engage people through the lens of empathy, hope, and unity. Marvin's work is a testament to his dedication to using design as a powerful tool to effect social change.

AMY SCHULDT

Amy is a recently retired, award-winning design professional in the office of creative services at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. Before retiring, she served for more than 28 years in higher education marketing and communications where she collaborated with campus clients, art directed photographers and illustrators as well as planned and developed high-profile university print materials. She was the sole designer for the alumni magazine (three issues a year) for more than 20 years. She also helped implement two major brand launches for the university in 2008 and 2016.

Now in retirement, Amy enjoys spending time with her parents, reading, gardening, walking, having coffee on the deck, going to movies and spending time with her husband and their two dogs, Dexter and Paisley.

LINDSAY TYSON
As chief marketing officer, Lindsay Tyson is responsible for leading the Meridian Enterprise marketing programs, brand recognition, corporate events and sponsorships. She is focused on driving the company vision of transforming the customer experience by building our brands to promote our innovative solutions and service driven initiatives. Prior to joining the Meridian team, Lindsay spent the past 15 years working with many notable brands in various industries, from institutions of higher education to Fortune companies.
 
Lindsay’s greatest strengths are her creativity, drive, and leadership. She thrives on challenges, particularly those that expand the Meridian Enterprise's reach and brand equity. Lindsay is a team player who collaborates and strategizes to bring brands to life. As an award-winning designer she demonstrates the ability to combine visual assets with communication to create compelling campaigns that tell a story. Her honors and accolades include awards from AIGA, American Advertising Federation, and Graphic Design U.S.A.

She has extensive experience in graphic design, art direction, brand management, marketing campaigns, developing strategies, and building creative teams. She holds a BFA and an MFA in Graphic Design from Georgia Southern University and an MBA in Marketing from American University. She also has certifications in Agile Leadership and Organizational Leadership from Harvard Business School.

DIGITAL JUDGES

MEAGHAN A. DEE

Meaghan A. Dee is both a practicing graphic designer and a design educator. She is an associate professor of Graphic Design and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Creativity, Arts, and Technology at Virginia Tech. Meaghan also serves as a docent for the Letterform Archive in San Francisco. She served for seven years as the chair for the Graphic Design program at Virginia Tech and served six years (two as co-chair) on the AIGA Design Educators Community (AIGA DEC) Executive Board. Meaghan received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois, with a focus in Graphic Design, and a Master of Fine Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University, with a focus in Visual Communication Design. Her work can be seen at meaghand.com.

MEAGHAN MILLIORN

Meaghan Milliorn has worked at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for 14 years and currently serves as the director of digital strategy. She and her team are responsible for overseeing the university website, its strategic focus, and ensuring it meets the needs of our future and current students. She is currently leading the comprehensive redesign of the university website. Meaghan is an active volunteer for the HighEdWeb Association and has served on committees and presented at the national conference. She received her BA in Journalism and attended graduate school at UA Little Rock. 

TONY ROMAIN

Tony Romain earned his BFA in Graphic Design and Photography from Southeastern Louisiana University in 2013 and has since worked with clients of all sizes including startups, local government, non-profit organizations, major bands, and even Fortune 500 companies. He has helped build and grow hundreds of brands by helping them tell their stories through branding and digital design. Tony has also worked with groups aiming to make design more accessible to all, most recently serving on the elected board for the AIGA chapter in his current hometown of Raleigh, North Carolina. After over a decade of working in marketing and freelance, Tony currently works as head of design for EDOS Digital, a software company focused on the gaming and entertainment industry, to create top-class user interfaces and experiences.

VIDEO JUDGES

CHRISTINA FRANUSICH
Christina Franusich is an editorial photographer and videographer with nearly 20 years of experience as a storyteller and image maker, and has worked for numerous local and national clients including the Associated Press, ESPN, Garden & Gun Magazine, among other publications and agencies. Christina loves to capture the everyday humor and authenticity of life, and in working full-time in visual communications at Virginia Tech since 2017, is always looking for new ways to visually bring to life the stories happening at an institution of higher education.

ADAM PERRY
Adam Perry is a highly accomplished documentary filmmaker and photographer, specializing in the outdoor industry. As the founder and creative force behind DAYSIX OUTDOORS, his production company, Adam has collaborated with renowned brands such as Under Armour, ONX Hunt, US Fish & Wildlife, and Hunters of Color. Demonstrating his exceptional talent and reputation, he has also secured upcoming opportunities with industry giants Disney and Nat Geo. Prior to embarking on his freelance career, Adam dedicated 14 years to Taylor University's marketing department, where he honed his expertise in storytelling and visual communication. During this time, he actively contributed to the field as a long-standing member and board member of UCDA. Adam’s passion for capturing the essence of the outdoors and his extensive experience make him a sought-after professional in the realm of documentary filmmaking and photography.

RYAN TAYLOR
With a love of storytelling, being able to capture and evoke emotion through the art of design and filmmaking has been Ryan Taylor’s passion for over 25 years. Over the last 19 years at Arkansas Tech University, he has won 350+ awards for his and his team’s creative work in the higher education marketing field. Aside from being the video production manager, he’s an adjunct professor for Digital Skills (Photoshop) at ATU.

Ryan makes it his goal to furnish “award winning” service to every single client that he serves (nationally and locally) through his own company, F1rst Person Productions, offering social media content strategy, commercial video and audio production, graphic design, and marketing training. In his spare time, Ryan is a music producer, songwriter, recording artist and professional musician, releasing several albums over the last few years, currently available on all streaming music platforms.