The human connection created by a two-inch-square piece of clay and an iconic fashion accessory is at the heart of Leo Burnett’s award-winning 77th anniversary invitation.

Palo Alto, California – “I never saw a photograph of Leo Burnett, although I knew about him and that he had those horn-rimmed glasses,” remembers Mary Scott, executive director for the School of Graphic Design at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

Scott, guest judge for PaperSpecs Gallery’s quarterly competition, chose Leo Burnett’s 77th Anniversary invitation as the Take Note Award winner for Quarter Two 2013.

The project consisted of three elements – a small lump of grey molding clay, a tiny paper replica of the eyeglasses Leo Burnett made famous, and a small brochure with event details – all tucked snugly inside a 2.25-inch-square black box.

“While the execution of the packaging and details like the typography are great,” explains Scott, “what set this entry apart is the big idea that gave the piece such great meaning.”

The invitation boxes were placed on the desks of employees (some 1,800) at the Chicago campus of Leo Burnett. Once opened, the recipients found an inventive call to action: celebrate 7+ decades of creativity and craftsmanship by sculpting their own busts of the founder. The surprising results were as original as the employees themselves.

To read the full inside story on Leo Burnett’s 77th anniversary invitation, please visit http://www.paperspecs.com/31398/tna-leo-burnett-invite/.

To see a video about the winning project (including some of the imaginative clay busts Leo Burnett employees created), please visit http://www.paperspecs.com/32814/tna-leo-burnett-invite-2/.