PACK-tastic! Themed Contest Challenged Entrants to Design a Unique, Striking and Functional Package

Reston, VA —The Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF) has announced the winners of the GAERF 2014 Student Design Competition, sponsored this year by EFI on the occasion of the company's 25^thanniversary. The fifth annual contest, themed PACK-tastic!, challenged students from secondary and post-secondary institutions to design a unique and striking package to contain, transport, and market a product of their choosing. Entrants were required to submit both a digital image of the package and its dieline.

 From among the 228 entries, six winners were chosen, three at the secondary school level and three at the post-secondary school level by an independent panel of industry expert judges to include: Frank Kanonik, Intellective Solutions; Kevin Karstedt, Karstedt Partners, LLC; Gordon Kaye,Graphic Design USA; James Mayes, Colorcraft of VA (retired); Lisa Pierce,Packaging Digest; Noel Ward, NAPCO; and, Ralph Nappi, GAERF President.                                   

       Winners at the secondary school level were:

• 1^st Place: John O'Laughlin, Crawford County Career and Technical Center, Meadville, PA (Instructor: Dennis O'Laughlin)
• 2^nd Place: Abigail Justice, Mingo Central High School, Delbarton, WV (Instructor: Doug Martin)
• 3^rd Place: Anna Talley, Atlee High School, Mechanicsville, VA (Instructor: Erik Leise)

       Winners at the post-secondary school level were:

• 1^st Place: Jordan Hetzer, Columbus College of Arts and Design, Columbus, OH (Instructor: Erik Turocy)
• 2^nd place: Amanda Peterson, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA (Instructor: Colleen Twomey)
• 3^rd place: Jessica Curley, Lyndon State College, Lyndonville, VT (Instructor: Kelly Glentz Brush)

First place winners and their instructors will receive a two-day, all inclusive paid trip to attend GRAPH EXPO 14 in Chicago, IL. In addition, the first place winners will be presented with $2,000 checks during GRAPH EXPO's Career Awareness Day on Wednesday, October 1, 2014. The second place winners will each be awarded $1,500, and the third place winners will each receive $1,000.

"GAERF is proud to continue its commitment to supporting education initiatives by encouraging creativity and self-expression in students through the art of design and production," said GAERF President Ralph Nappi. "The GAERF 2014 Student Design Competition, a more challenging assignment than in years past, has served to recognize our best and brightest students, as well as the significant commitment of their instructors."

"It's an honor for EFI to join with GAERF to recognize excellence in the next generation of digital print innovators—particularly in the realm of packaging, which is one of the print industry's growth areas," said Guy Gecht, CEO of EFI. "During this 25^th anniversary year at EFI—where we diligently continue to build on our powerful foundation of transformative productivity—it is particularly fitting that we applaud tomorrow's leaders who will continue to carry out our legacy of innovation."

All student entries will be featured in a special display within GRAPH EXPO 14's Education Main Street, and showcased on the graphicCOMMcentral website: www.graphiccommcentral.org.``