Each year, we recognize the outstanding efforts of our team by participating in the most prestigious marketing communication and graphic design competitions. Awards such as these validate our creative talents, help us attract equally talented people as we grow, and prove ourselves to our peers and clients.
This year, we proudly announce our four winners in the 2024 MarCom Awards and three winners in the 2024 GDUSA American Graphic Design Awards.
About MarCom
MarCom Awards honor marketing and communication excellence while recognizing the creativity and hard work of industry professionals like Blue Star. It is also one of the world’s largest, most-respected creative competitions. Organizations representing dozens of countries submit about 6,500 print and digital entries annually.
Platinum Winner:
McGowan Programs: Eight Risk Management Concerns for Cannabis Businesses
McGowan Program Administrators (MPA) is America’s leading writer of innovative insurance programs. Writing for McGowan means blending skills and understanding to effectively reach customers, agents, and internal teams.
In this particular article, we explain the enormous risk factors in the cannabis market and the ways to manage that risk safely. Cannabis business owners and stakeholders often neglect critical areas of risk mitigation. This article provides information to help protect a startup dispensary or other cannabis-related businesses (CRBs) from financial disaster.
Platinum Winner:
CBTS: Location-based marketing in retail
Writing for the technology industry is challenging as it requires translating complex, technical concepts into clear, engaging content that resonates with both experts and non-experts. Our client, CBTS, is an enterprise technology solutions provider for a wide variety of industries – healthcare, EDU, manufacturing, government, finance, and retail. Over the last year, retail customers have been seeking personalization to a degree not seen in previous generations. To meet these demands, retail leaders are turning to location-based marketing technology. This blog post investigates eight use cases of location technology for retailers.
Gold Winner:
Adherex Packaging: The Complexities of Sustainable Packaging Materials in Supply Chain Management
Adherex Packaging is a convertor of premium adhesion solutions and services for distributors, OEMs, and end users in the manufacturing and industrial packaging markets. “Green,” “carbon-neutral,” and “sustainable” are all buzzwords in the packaging industry. While implementing “green” packaging is a worthy goal, the reality behind sustainable packaging materials is complicated. This post helps explain the current market for sustainable packaging materials and how companies can make strides toward implementing sustainability into packaging.
Gold Winner:
Anderson International: The Controversy Surrounding Mustard Seed Oil
Anderson International is the global leader in precision oilseed equipment and extraction. Writing for their processing systems is complex and requires the ability to detail their services’ mechanical, chemical, and biological engineering aspects. With 135+ years of process knowledge and manufacturing experience, they are well-versed in the extraction process of all oilseeds. In this particular article, we closely examine mustard’s unique oil composition, benefits, and risks and why it is banned in the U.S. and Canada.
About GDUSA
Annually, GDUSA sponsors design competitions to recognize areas of excellence for creative professionals. Their flagship competition, the American Graphic Design Awards™, honors exceptional design work across all media.
Winner:
Pace Drivers: Logo
Pace Drivers is a national staffing and recruiting firm for the trucking and transportation industry. This past year, prior to updating their website, we were tasked with updating their logo to a modern look that better represented their drive, speed, and precision in mapping out exceptional solutions for the entire transportation community. By refreshing its brand identity, Pace will be able to attract attention and convey a modern, relevant image, which will help differentiate its services and enhance its ability to compete effectively.
Winner:
WRA: Bicentennial Magazine
Founded in 1826 with one tutor and three students, Western Reserve Academy (WRA) today is a well-known independent, co-ed, boarding, and day school for grades 9-12. WRA offers students a transformative, top-ranked college preparatory education. As they prepare for their 2026 Bicentennial historic milestone, this magazine highlights current celebrations filled with fireworks, bubbles, and 75,000 tree lights.
Winner:
Cleveland Clinic: Community T-shirt
The Cleveland Clinic has been a client of Blue Star Design for the last 21 years. We are very proud of our work supporting their marketing initiatives and community interaction. For the last nine years, The Cleveland Clinic Avon Hospital and Richard E. Jacobs Health Center have hosted a community event that helps fund innovations and initiatives that meet the current and emergent needs of local patients in Ohio. Registrants are gifted shirts as part of their participation. We love how this simple image fully communicates their caring and impact on our region.
