Creative professionals group presents marketing awards

STATE COLLEGE — Professional group [CP]2 hosted its second Bracket Awards — a competition awarding excellence in advertising, design and marketing created in Central Pennsylvania — on May 19 at Black Sun Studio in State College.

Radio host Dawn Ziegerer emceed the event and presented gold and silver Bracket Awards to 16 local agencies, media outlets, businesses and nonprofits. More than 100 people were in attendance at the event sponsored by Comcast Spotlight.

“We were blown away at the level of work submitted this year. Central Pennsylvania is spoiled by the local talent of marketers, communicators and designers,” said [CP]2 president Mark D. Dello Stritto. “The Bracket Awards shines a spotlight on this great work happening in the area while giving us a chance to come together as a community and celebrate all the hard work we put in.”

Best in Show was awarded to State College-based agency Rowland Creative for the promotional posters they created for artsUP on behalf of Penn State’s College of Arts and Architecture. Creative director Dan Rowland and designers David Spak and Brad Jamison were responsible for the work.

“We chose an illustration style that encouraged creativity by imagining what can come out of a single blot of paint. The colored sphere, which references the artsUP logo, is repurposed as elements of the disciplines taught by the College of Arts and Architecture,” the agency wrote on their submission form. “We wanted each piece to reflect the concept of art being a personal experience and the ability to create your own masterpiece.”
[CP]2, also known as Central Pennsylvania Creative Professionals, accepted more than 130 entries and presented 56 awards this year. The entries were judged by a third-party panel of five marketing experts and those receiving the highest marks were selected for an award.