SPD54: From New York to California all the Medal Winners at this year's prestigious SPD Awards

The New York Times Magazine, The California Sunday Magazine and more graphic design brilliance were awarded this past Friday, May the 3rd at The Society of Publication Designers (SPD) Annual Awards Gala at Union Park. SPD ​announced the winners of the 54th Annual Design Competition in this celebration of excellence in editorial design, photography, and illustration and in case you want to know who is on top of their game in the US industry start keeping notes. 

Hosted by SPD 54 Co-Chairs Nathalie Kirsheh​, Creative Director, ​Allure, Glamour, ​and ​Self and Casey Stenger​, Visuals Director and Producer, 82 categories were awarded Gold Medals and 71 categories were awarded Silver Medals for work in both Print and Digital platforms. 

Digital Co-Chair ​Steve Motzenbecker​, Product Design Manager at Instagram presented the Digital Awards. The Print, Members’ Choice: Best Cover and Best of Genre Awards were presented by Nathalie Kirsheh ​and ​Casey Stenger​.

​Robert Newman​, Creative Director of ​This Old House​, presented the prestigious Magazine of the Year Award and the ceremony concluded with the announcement of the top honor of Brand of the Year by ​Anton Ioukhnovets​, Creative Director of 30 Point. As always, the Gold and Silver Medal winners, along with the medal finalists and merit winners will be commemorated in the PUB 54 Annual.

Following is the full list of winners at this year's prestigious SPD54 Awards. 

Brand of the Year

Gold Medal: The New York Times Magazine, ​Gail Bichler​, Design Director
Silver Medal: National Geographic, ​Emmet Smith​, Creative Director

Magazine of the Year

Gold Medal: The California Sunday Magazine, ​Leo Jung​, Creative Director; ​Jacqueline Bates​, Photography Director
Silver Medal: Howler, ​Metaleap Creative

Best of Genre:

General Interest/ News Gold Medal: New York Magazine, ​Thomas Alberty​, Design Director. City / Regional Gold Medal: Texas Monthly, ​Emily Kimbro​, Design Director. Women’s Interest Gold Medal: Glamour, ​Nathalie Kirsheh​, Creative Director. Men’s Interest Gold Medal: GQ Style, ​Robert Vargas​,​Executive Design Director. Lifestyle/ Travel/ Food/ Shelter Gold Medal: Bon Appétit, ​Michele Outland​, Creative Director. Fashion/ Beauty Gold Medal: T: The New York Times Style Magazine, ​Patrick Li​, Creative Director. Business/ Science/ Technology Gold Medal: Wired. Entertainment/ Sports Gold Medal: ESPN The Magazine​,​Chin Wang​, Creative Director. Trade/ Brand/ Educational/ Institutional Gold Medal: In Touch Magazine, ​Metaleap Creative. Independent/ Special Interest Gold Medal: Port Magazine

Member's Choice: Best Cover

Gold Medal: National Geographic, ​Emmet Smith​, Creative Director; June 2018, “Planet or Plastic?”

Print Medal Winners 

Design: Cover

Gold Medal: The New York Times Magazine, ​Gail Bichler​, Design Director; November 18, 2018, “What Will Become Of Us”

Design: Entire Issue

Gold Medal: Wired Italia, ​Massimo Pitis​, Creative Director; ​David Moretti​, Creative Consultant; Spring 2018, “The Perfect Machine”

Design: Section, not feature; Singles/spreads, Single Issue

Gold Medal: Wired Italia, ​Massimo Pitis​, Creative Director; ​David Moretti, Creative Consultant; Spring 2018, “The Perfect Machine”

Design: Section, not feature; Singles/spreads, Multiple Issues

Gold Medal: Volkskrant Magazine, ​Jaap Biemans​, Art Director; September 8, 2018, October 6, 2018, October 13, 2018, October 27, 2018, November 10, 2018, November 17, 2018, November 24, 2018, “Content”

Design: Feature, Service; Single/Spread

Gold Medal: The New York Times for Kids, ​Deb Bishop​, Art Director; May 27, 2018, “Asteroids and Rockets”

Design: Feature, Service; Story

Gold Medal: GQ, ​Robert Vargas​, Executive Design Director; October 2018, “How To Be Mentally Healthier”

Design: Feature, Profile, Non-celebrity; Single/Spread

Gold Medal: The New York Times Magazine, ​Gail Bichler​, Design Director; July 1, 2018, “The Artist Is Not Present”

Design: Feature, Profile, Celebrity; Single/Spread

Gold Medal: The New York Times Magazine, ​Gail Bichler​, Design Director; December 9, 2018, “Great Performers: Lakeith Stanfield”

Design: Feature, Profile, Celebrity/Entertainment; Story

Gold Medal: New York Magazine, ​Thomas Alberty​, Design Director; October 15-28, 2018, “Women and Power”

Design: Feature, News/ Documentary/ Essay; Single/spread

Gold Medal: The New York Times Magazine, ​Gail Bichler​, Design Director; January 21, 2018, “On Female Rage”

Design: Feature, News/ Documentary/ Essay; Story

Gold Medal: New York Magazine, ​Thomas Alberty​, Design Director; August 6-19, 2018, “2008”

Design: Feature, Lifestyle/ Travel/ Food/ Shelter; Single/spread

Gold Medal: AFAR, ​Jason Seldon​, Design Director; July/August 2018, “Razing Cane”

Design: Feature, Lifestyle/ Travel/ Food/ Shelter; Story

Gold Medal: Food & Wine, ​Winslow Taft​, Creative Director; May 2018, “The 2018 Restaurants of the Year”

Design: Feature, Fashion/ Beauty; Single/spread

Gold Medal: Marie Claire, ​Wanyi Jiang​, Design Director; September 2018, “Bye!”

Design: Feature, Fashion/ Beauty; Story

Gold Medal: GQ, ​Robert Vargas​, Executive Design Director; May 2018, “The Season of James Harden”

Design: Feature, Opener; Single Page

Gold Medal: Bloomberg Businessweek, ​Chris Nosenzo​, Creative Director; January 22, 2018, “Dying Inside”

Design - Independent Magazines: Entire Issue

Gold Medal: Rvm Magazine, ​Francesca Pignataro​, Art Director; May 2018, “The White Issue”

Design – Independent Magazines: Cover

Gold Medal: Port Magazine, ​Matt Willey​, Creative Director; Autumn/Winter 2018, “The Many Shades of Vincent Cassel”

Design –  Independent Magazines: Single/spread

Gold Medal: Howler​, ​Metaleap Creative​; Winter/Spring 2018, “I Am Not Sorry for Scoring with My Hand”

Design – Custom Publishing Brand/ Trade/ Institutional/ Educational: Entire Issue 

Gold Medal: Wealthsimple Magazine, ​Devin Friedman​, Editorial Director; 2018, “The Truth About Money”

Design – Custom Publishing Brand/ Trade/ Institutional/ Educational: Cover

Gold Medal: Jewish in Seattle, ​Neomi Rapoport​, Art Director; April/May 2018, “In The Beginning”

Design – Custom Publishing Brand/ Trade/ Institutional/ Educational: Single/spread

Gold Medal: University of La Verne Voice, ​Maureen Panos​, Creative Director; May 2018, “Practice Makes Profit”

Design – Custom Publishing Brand/ Trade/ Institutional/ Educational: Story 

Gold Medal: Footwear Plus, ​McCandliss & Campbell​; March 2018, “Down & Derby”

Redesign: Entire Issue

Gold Medal: Howler​, ​Metaleap Creative​; Winter/Spring 2018, “American Horror Story”

Data Visualization: Information Graphics

Gold Medal: National Geographic, ​Emmet Smith​, Creative Director; September 2018, “Building Katie’s New Face”

The Society of Publication Designers (SPD) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging excellence in editorial design. Since forming in 1965, SPD prides itself on being the only organization with a specific focus on the visual editorial concerns of print and digital professionals. Helmed by a Board of Officers and Directors who consist of industry professionals working in editorial design, photography, and illustration in print publications and digital platforms, SPD serves as a resource and community for like-minded people. Annually, SPD hosts a design competition where we receive thousands of entries from all over the world. The results are announced at a black-tie Awards Gala before being commemorated in our Publication Design Annual, a beautifully printed hardcover book that is an invaluable resource for anyone working in editorial design.

Check the rest of winners in Illustrations, Photography and more here.