Les Kollegian of Jacob Tyler Creative Group Chosen as Judge for 38th Annual Creativity Awards

San Diego, CA - March 3, 2008 Les Kollegian, Creative Director and founder of Jacob Tyler Creative Group in San Diego, has been chosen from a pool of over 200 potential creative experts to be one of 16 judges for this year's Creativity 38 Awards in Louisville, Kentucky. From August 14th-16th, Kollegian and his peers will review approximately 1000 entries across several categories to be awarded honors of excellence in fields of creative marketing and advertising design.

"I am honored to be invited to judge work from my peers," says Kollegian, "There are a lot of phenomenal designers and firms in the U.S. and I look forward to reviewing and commenting on the excellent work submitted for consideration."

Kollegian was chosen by the Creativity Annual Awards staff as the result of a specific vetting process. Kathleen Ritchie, Marketing Director for the awards, spearheaded the selection process and was deeply impressed by Kollegian's accomplishments.

"In the past we relied on a lot of local judges," offered Ritchie, "but this year we chose people who had a lot of status in the industry and looked at their past judging experience to see if they were familiar with the process. We looked at credentials, years in the industry, status in the industry, and narrowed it down to our judges from there. Les was chosen for his experience in TV, film and new media, his experience in interactive, his clients, and the fact that he has sponsored and judged with AIGA [the American Institute of Graphic Arts – the professional association for design]."

Specifically for these awards, Kollegian will be a judge in the TV, Film, Radio, New Media, and Ambient Media category: A field of work for which he is uniquely qualified. In 2007, Kollegian submitted 30 logos for consideration for David E. Carter's prestigious Big Book of Logos. In a field of 10,000 entries, all 30 of his firm's logos were accepted. This time around, Kollegian's will be assessing the work of others with a disciplined eye for both form and function.

"I am a judge for the "interactive" portion of the submitted work," explains Kollegian. With a background that offers over a decade of experience creating interactive campaigns for both large and small companies, and training in usability and information architecture, Kollegian brings a multifaceted eye to the judging process. "I will be looking at all work not only as a designer, but how the campaign would resonate and be usable," he offers. "I will look for great design, exceptional usability and functionality, strong messaging, and how it is delivered to specific target markets. Both form and function are extremely important, because if it's just pretty and no one understands it or how to use it, it doesn't work as a successful marketing piece."

The Creative Annual Awards is one of the oldest and most prestigious awards in the design community. Last year's competition featured entries from 29 countries and virtually every state in the U.S., including blue chip brands and firms such as MTV and Publicis Dialog, to independent designers and photographers. All entries are judged in a blind process that eliminates bias and rates campaigns strictly on their merit.

Les Kollegian is the owner and Creative Director for Jacob Tyler Creative Group. He holds a Masters in Communication Design from the University of Baltimore and has more that 15 years of experience designing marketing campaigns. Kollegian is a member of the AIGA and speaks regularly at design conferences and universities on the topics of Web Design, Creative Strategy, Marketing, and Usability. His clients have ranged from start-up companies to Fortune 500 firms, including America Online, Intel, Gateway, and Qualcomm. His list of satisfied customers also includes U.S. Playing Cards, Fox Television, Chili's Restaurants, and The American Fertility Association.

Contacts: Denise Dorman
Phone: (630) 845-4694

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