judges

JOHN BIELENBERG
is a partner and cofounder of C2 in San Francisco with Greg Galle and Erik Cox, and founder and director of Project M, a summer program in Maine that is designed to inspire young designers, writers, photographers, and filmmakers by proving that their work can have a positive and significant impact on the world. Since 1991, John has also produced an ongoing series of projects under the pseudonym Virtual Telemetrix, Inc., that addresses issues related to graphic design and corporate America. The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art has acquired six of the VT projects and staged an exhibition and mock IPO (Initial Public Offering) that ran from July through October 2000. John is also known to think wrong from time to time.

DANA LYTLE
is creative director and cofounder of Planet Propaganda, in Madison, Wis. Founded in 1989 as a traditional graphic design firm, it has broadened its approach over the years to include advertising and interactive media. Dana and his partners, Kevin Wade and John Besmer, hail from the fork-in-the-toaster school of communication, an approach which has earned Planet Propaganda the affection of such clients as Gary Fisher Bicycles, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches, Blue Note Records, and Appleton Papers. When not designing, he spends his time rearranging his basement to make room for his collection of letterpress equipment. Though his heart belongs to print, Lytle also professes to love the smell of a freshly launched website.

TERRY MARKS
is principal of tmarksdesign, a multidisciplinary design firm in Seattle. He was sent to extra gym classes in the second grade, was separated from the rest of the class in the third, and in spite of being in advanced mathematics as a youngster, turned to the arts as an adult. With clients spanning from DC Comics to Adobe, Terry’s work has been honored by Print, Critique, How, Neenah, and Potlatch, among others. Mr. Crumbly Dreams A Tiger, which he wrote and illustrated, was awarded a Perfect 10 by How magazine. His physique was not. What he really wants to do, however, is direct.

JILLY SIMONS
is principal of Concrete in Chicago, which consults in all facets of visual communication and chooses solutions that are grounded in simplicity and elegance. Jilly has lectured and juried design competitions throughout the United States, taught at several design schools, and after serving on its executive board she’s now an advisor to the AIGA, Chicago. Although her work has been honored, exhibited, and published internationally, she still prays every night hoping to wake up in the morning with DJ Stout’s dance moves, John Bielenberg’s height (and irony), Dana Lytle’s otherworldliness, and loads of money for Terry Marks to rewrite her bio.

DJ STOUT
is a sixth-generation Texan born in the small West Texas town of Alpine. He received his degree in design communication from Texas Tech University in Lubbock, where he was honored as a distinguished alumnus. Between 1987 and 1999 he was art director of Texas Monthly, where he helped to guide the magazine to three National Magazine Awards. Stout joined Pentagram’s Austin office as a partner in 2000. In 1998, American Photo magazine named him one of its “100 Most Important People in Photography,” and in 2004 I.D. magazine selected Stout for “The I.D. Fifty,” its annual listing of design innovators. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Austin chapter of AIGA.