Stuckeman graphic design students shine in Graphis New Talent Awards

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Six projects designed by Penn State graphic design students as part of their coursework in the College of Arts and Architecture’s Stuckeman School garnered awards in the worldwide Graphis New Talent Awards 2025 with two submissions receiving the competition’s highest honor — the Platinum Award — in their respective design categories.

An additional 26 projects by Penn State designers were recognized with Honorable Mention accolades in the annual design competition, which recognizes the best student work from around the globe.

Recent graduate Jonathan Petersen’s submission titled “Return to Her Embrace,” which was designed to “give comfort to the concept of death through natural and organic means,” won a Platinum Award in the poster design category. “A Wedding, A Burial,” by fourth-year student Hanlin Zhang also received a Platinum Award in the same category. Both posters were designed under the guidance of Taylor Shipton, assistant teaching professor of graphic design, in her GD300: Design Photography course.

“Tome Unknown Fashion Magazine,” designed by fourth-year student Colette Albertson in Shipton’s “Design Photography” course, received a Gold Award in the editorial design category. “High Steaks,” a magazine designed by fellow fourth-year student Katie Hackenberg in GD203: Typography II instructed by Emily Burns, assistant professor of graphic design, to raise awareness about the environmental and ethical issues of animal and meat product consumption in the agriculture industry, also received a Silver Award in the same category.

The final two awards went to designs by Forough Yazdanpanah, who graduated in 2024 with a master of fine arts in art with a concentration in graphic design, and recent graduate Emma Cohen. Yazdanpanah’s “Flourish” branding project, which she designed to “celebrate and support highly sensitive people” during her graduate studies with Shipton and Burns, won a Silver Award in the branding design category. Cohen’s submission of “Blue Bean,” a brand of chocolate that acts “as a reflection of the rich experiences, cultures and traditions” that define the Penn State community, was honored with a Silver Award in the packaging design category under Shipton’s guidance in “GD302: Communications Design.”

An international jury of design industry experts select entries for the Graphis New Talent competition in the following design categories: advertising, book design, branding, editorial design, environmental design, exhibit design, film/video, illustration, infographics, interaction design, logos, motion graphics, packaging, poster, product design, type fonts, website design and more. Awards are presented at the platinum, gold and silver levels, along with honorable mention recognitions.

The following individual projects garnered Honorable Mentions:

• “XTC Album Packaging” by Hackenberg in the vinyl design category with Burns.
• “Mansion Magazine” by Megan Marflak and “’Whodunnit?’ Fashion Magazine” by Eden Balog in the editorial design category.
• “Max Bill Poster” by Shalini Prasath, “Max Huber Poster” by Ella Hummel, “Armin Hofmann Poster" by Hannah Mattamana, “Herbert Bayer Poster” by Cody Korsah and “Dylan Smith” by Dylan Smith in the poster design category with Phil Choo, professor of graphic design, and Huiwon Lim, associate professor of graphic design.
• “Richard Paul Lohse Poster” by Lillian Gerhart, “Otl Aicher Poster” by Charlie Papiernik and “El Lissitzky Poster” by Harris Woodward in the poster design category with Choo.
• “Safe Word” by recent graduate Isabella Everett, “Barilla Social Campaign” by Rachel Lieb and “John Deere Social Campaign” by Balog in the promotion design category with Shipton.
• “Increase Your [Social] Income” by Hummel in the promotion design category with Shipton and Lim.
• “Glucomood” by Negar Dehghan in the interaction design category with Lim, Burns and Shipton.
• “Tokmeh Couture” by Elaheh Babaei in the promotion design category with Burns and Tom Lauerman, associate professor of art.

Three student groups were recognized with Honorable Mentions in the branding design category for their work creating a visual identity for the town of Warren, Pennsylvania, under Shipton’s instruction. Shipton has been collaborating with Lisa Iulo, Stuckeman School professor of architecture and director of the Hamer Center for Community Design, on an interdisciplinary design effort to revitalize the waterfront and central business district in Warren in coordination with Penn State Extension in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

• Balog, Madison Laufer, Brooke Levey, Lindsay Rambo, Cohen, Lieb and Albertson, “Warren County”
• Wyatt Poorman, Jingyun Xiao and Everett, “Warren County, PA Branding”
• Marflak, Nick Casillo, Justin Reed, Dustin Fink, Will Welsh and Eli McArthur, “Warren County, Pennsylvania Branding”

Four student groups earned Honorable Mention nods in the experiential design category for their work reimagining the Fraser Street Parking Garage in downtown State College under Choo and Lim:

• Dylan Smith, Mia Rajakovic, Karalina Ptakowski, Mia Lane, Kaitlyn Crenshaw, Alex Wilczynski, Madeleine Grous and Abigail Droege, “Experiential Graphic Design for the Fraser Street Parking Garage”
• Abigail Dougherty, Catherine Frank, Kristin Muir, Elias Kronberg, Lillian North, William Shin and Shalini Prasath, “Experiential Graphic Design for the Fraser Street Parking Garage”
• Jaime Franchino, Hummel, Dean Alcaro, Korsah, Juliana Lavino, Mattamana, Mazie Kemper and Bianca Eckhardt, “Experiential Graphic Design for the Fraser Street Parking Garage”
• Wassel, Charlie Papernik, Woodward, Gerhart, Ava Conner, Erin Gibbs and Cori Chen, “Experiential Graphic Design for the Fraser Street Parking Garage”

Two student groups earned Honorable Mention honors in the exhibit design category for their work under Shipton as part of the Department of Graphic Design’s collaboration with the Penn State University Libraries on the Evanisko Project: Will Welsh, Lindsay Rambo, Everret, Jingyun Xiao and Marflak for “Meeting Point” and Mia Cornali, Fink, Reed, Lieb and Albertson for “Penn State Special Collections.”

The final group project to earn an Honorable Mention was “Six Degrees” by Poorman, Casillo, Cohen, Petersen and Emily Huber in the interaction design category under the guidance of Shipton.