Graphex is a Canadian national design competition that celebrates the best of visual communication design. It was founded in 1977 by the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada

Society of Graphic Designers of Canada

The Society of Graphic Designers of Canada is Canada's national graphic design association. It is a member-based organization of design professionals, educators, administrators, students, and associates in communications, marketing, media and design-related fields.The GDC was founded in 1956,...

.

Awards are given to creative professionals from various design disciplines in following categories:

• • Advertising (print, billboards, newspaper, transit shelters, etc.)
  • Annual Reports
  • Editorial/Magazine (editorial magazine and book spreads or total format)
  • Books (cover designs for magazines, books, etc.)
  • Brochures
  • Calendars
  • Catalogues
  • Logos
  • Corporate Identity
  • Stationery
  • Invitations
  • Manuals
  • Multimedia
  • Websites (online interactive sites and applications)
  • Packaging (includes consumer goods, boxes, labels, CDs, etc.)
  • Posters
  • Self Promotion
  • Signage (branding, vehicle graphics, wayfinding, etc. for retail and civic purposes)
  • Environmental - (interiors, trade show booths, banners, kiosks, POS, POP, etc.)
  • Type Design (any original typeface design)
  • Other (style guides, menus, complex promos, gifts, wearables, calendars, 3D promos, etc.)

Graphex 2008 (see: Homepage) is coordinated by the BC Chapter of GDC in Vancouver, BC, and Chaired by Canadian Graphic Designers Mark Busse and Cory Ripley. Graphex is also endorsed by Icograda

Icograda

International Council of Graphic Design Associations was founded in London in 1963. Icograda is the world body for professional communication design and visual communication. Icograda network members include professional organisations, design promotion bodies, design media and design education...

 (International Congress of Graphic Design Associations), the world body for professional graphic design and visual communication. Founded in London in 1963, it now bases its secretariat in Montréal, Canada. It is also supported by its sister design associations SDGQ and RGD Ontario.

Theme

The theme for Graphex 2008 is the theory, structure and visual language of the tournament ladder and the concept of zeitgeist
thetheme for 2010 is "a celebration of the people who bring ideas to life and the community where they exist in."

Judges

The competition has a jury of international judges, selected from experienced designers, writers, marketers and clients.

Judges for Graphex 2010 are

• Julia Hoffman
  Julia Hoffman
  Julia Hoffman is a fictional character played by Grayson Hall in the 1966 ABC soap opera Dark Shadows. A doctor in the fields of psychology and rare blood disorders and head of the Windcliff Sanitarium, she moved into Collinwood and discovered the vampire, Barnabas Collins...
  
  , Creative Director of Advertising and Graphic Design at MoMA The Museum of Modern Art, New York
• Louise Fill , principal of Louise Fili Ltd.
• Mark Randall, principal of Worldstudio,a New York City marketing and design agency
• Matt Warburton
  Matt Warburton
  Matt Warburton is an American television writer currently working on The Simpsons. In reference to Warburton, Current show runner Al Jean once joked that the show now has a writer younger than Bart...
  
  , founder and co-principle of Emdoubleyu Design, in Vancouver
• Rolando Diep, creative director at Landor Associates Latin America.

Judges for Graphex 2008 were:

• Ronald Kapaz, Head Designer and partner, Oz Design, São Paulo, Brazil
• Jamie Koval, Partner, and Creative Director, VSA Partners
  VSA Partners
  VSA Partners is an independent branding firm. VSA Partners is headquartered in Chicago, IL with offices in Minneapolis, MN and New York, NY. The firm was founded in 1982 by Robert Vogele as Communication Design Group...
  
  , Chicago, USA
• Sam Carter, design historian and educator, Emily Carr Institute, Vancouver, Canada
• Peter Steiner, graphic designer and interaction designer, formerly of Gottschalk + Ash Int’l, Montréal, Canada
• Stanley Hainsworth, VP, Global Brand Director, Starbucks, Seattle, USA
• Michael Jager
  Michael Jäger
  Michael Jäger is a German artist. He lives and works in Clarksville, TN.- Biography :*1984 Förderkoje“art-cologne“/Galerie Luise Krohn-Badenweiler*1985 Arbeitsstipendium der Kunststiftung Baden-Württemberg...
  
   , Creative Director, JDK Design, Burlington, USA
• Marian Bantjes
  Marian Bantjes
  Marian Bantjes was born in 1963 and is a Canadian designer, artist, illustrator, typographer and writer.Bantjes started working in the field of visual communication in 1983 and worked as a book typesetter from 1984–1994...
  
  , designer, typographer, writer, Bantjes.com, Bowen Island, Canada

Judges for Graphex 2006 were:

• Rick Poynor
  Rick Poynor
  Rick Poynor is a British writer on design, graphic design, typography and visual culture. He began as a general visual arts journalist, working on Blueprint magazine in London. After founding Eye magazine , which he edited from 1990 to 1997, he focused increasingly on visual communication...
  
  , founder of Eye magazine, London, UK
• Min Wang, Standing Expert on Image and Identity for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Beijing, China
• Debbie Millman
  Debbie Millman
  Debbie Millman is President of the Design division at Sterling Brands, New York, host of the radio show "Design Matters" on DesignObserver.com, the Chair of the new Masters in Branding Program at the School of Visual Arts, a contributing Editor at Print Magazine, and a design blogger for Fast Company...
  
  , President of Design at Sterling Brands, New York, USA
• Tan Le
  Tan Le
  Tan Le , a Vietnamese-Australian telecommunications entrepreneur, is a co-Founder of Emotiv. She was named the 1998 Young Australian of the Year....
  
  , Creative Director of Design at WongDoody, Seattle, USA
• Robert Sarner, of Roots Canada, Toronto

Rules

Graphex is a national awards program open to all Canadian professional graphic designers, typographers, photographers, illustrators, art directors, ad agencies, printers, writers or clients. Student work is not permitted. All entries must be accompanied by the design criteria stating the challenges or requirements of the project and the rationale for the design solution.

External links

• GDC Society of Graphic Designers of Canada
• Graphex 2008 Graphex 2008 Canadian National Design Awards
• Graphex 2006 Graphex 2006 Canadian National Design Awards
• Graphex 2003 Graphex 2003 Canadian National Design Awards
• Graphex 2000 Graphex 2000 Canadian National Design Awards
• RGD Ontario Registered Graphic Designers of Ontario
• SDGQ Société des designers graphiques du Québec