Submissions are now being accepted for the ‘Making Vinyl Packaging Awards’, designed to highlight the best graphic design presentation of recorded music in physical media in the digital age.
The competition includes 12 categories for vinyl records and 2 categories for compact discs and requires that the submission be released between Sept. 1, 2017, and Aug. 15, 2018. Visit https://makingvinyl.com/awards-2018/ for competition details. All entries must be electronically submitted by Aug. 15, 2018, 11:59 p.m. for them to be eligible.
Entries may come from record labels, pressing plants, brokers, packagers, printers, mastering facilities, artists, and distributors from anywhere in the world.
Submissions will be judged by award-winning art directors in the U.S. and Europe. Finalists and winners will be selected at the offices of AIGA, the prestigious design organization.
Among the 14 categories are “Save The Earth,” recognizing innovations in sustainability; “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done,” recognizing innovation in structural design; and “Best Record Store Day Vinyl,” recognizing the best limited-edition releases created for RSD 2018 in April and RSD Black Friday 2017. Record Store Day is a partner in Making Vinyl (http://makingvinyl.com), the first B2B conference that celebrates the global rebirth of the record manufacturing industry.
“The awards competition recognizes the importance and critical role that compelling physical packaging plays in selling music,” says Bryan Ekus, president of Colonial Purchasing Co-op, producer of Making Vinyl.
“There’s no doubt that the 12-in x 12-inch canvas is contributing to the vinyl format’s astounding comeback. In the age of MP3, downloads and digital streaming, a well-designed LP cover or a graphics-rich gatefold matches the artistry of the music emanating from speakers or headphones.”
Winners of the 2018 ‘Making Vinyl Packaging Awards’ will be announced the evening of Oct. 1 in Detroit at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. In November 2017, Making Vinyl presented its first packaging awards, as part of a conference attended by nearly 300 industry professionals and was keynoted by vinyl evangelist Jack White, whose Third Man Pressing returns as a hometown sponsor of the event.
Also returning to host the 2018 Making Vinyl Packaging Awards is Grammy Award-winning Craig Braun, the music packaging legend. At the Grammy event this past February, “Voyager” won the boxed set category, as it did last November at Making Vinyl.
