Design Jury Says Famed Polish Weekly Has Regained Its Glory

Chimera (www.chimera.media.com.pl) is operated under the auspices of the Modern Media Institute (www.media.com.pl/institute), based in Poland. It awards both newspapers and magazines across a wide range of design disciplines, and this year was focused on countries of the New Europe," Russia, Ukraine, the Balkan countries, and the Baltic states. The purpose of the competition is to raise the standards of publication in these countries.

WARSAW (PRWEB) April 6, 2004 --Polands storied weekly, Przekroj, has returned to design glory, according to the first international edition of the Chimera competition, whose jury awarded the magazine a Grand Prix in judging held April 1-3.

Since the 1940s Przekroj has been home to some of Polands leading writers, illustrators, photographers and designers. But the magazine, once considered a cultural icon of Poland, had fallen on general hard times and gone through several owners before being truly brought back to life by Edipresse Poland, a division of the Swiss publishing house of the same name. Edipresse Poland bought the title in 2002.

On its way to the Grand Prix, Przekroj (whose title translates literally into cutting through") also picked up awards for illustration, and in the redesign category for a graphic overhaul unveiled in 2003.

Judges said they honored the Przekjoj for a design which reclaims the magazines historical profile yet is bold and fresh," and noted its innovative and bold handling of headlines."

Chimera (http://www.chimera.media.com.pl) is operated under the auspices of the Modern Media Institute (http://www.media.com.pl/institute), based in Poland. It awards both newspapers and magazines across a wide range of design disciplines, and this year was focused on countries of the New Europe," Russia, Ukraine, the Balkan countries, and the Baltic states. The purpose of the competition is to raise the standards of publication.

The other top winner this year was 2+3D: Product and Design," a Krakow-based design quarterly published by Foundation Rzecz Piekna. That title picked up three awards: for Overall Design, Typography and Cover Design.

While Polish publications picked up most of the awards, Estonia produced an impressive four awards Posttimes Publishing produced winners from both Talinn-based Posttimes, a national paper honored for overall newspaper design, as well as Tartu Posttimes, a regional daily which was tapped for Feature Page Design. Also from Estonia, Aripaev, a financial paper, picked up one Chimera for newspaper illustration while a companion Arpaev magazine named Visioon" was honored for illustration.

Kvadart, a culture magazine from Serbia and ProDesign, a Belarus design title, both also won Chimeras for overall design.

This years jury was headed by design veteran Andrew Kner, former Creative Director and Art Director of Print and Scenario Magazines. Mr. Kner currently teaches at Communication Design at Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and is on the advisory board of the Art Directors Club Advisory Board.

A total of 13 magazine and 12 newspaper awards were handed out by the jury, which withheld the Grand Prix in the category for overall newspaper design, still considered generally weak across the developing markets of Central and Eastern Europe...and eastward.

One design portfolio, and one illustration portfolio captured Chimeras to round out the total number of awards at 20.

The 2004 Chimera competition was held in conjunction with the Society for News Design, an international professional organization based in the U.S.A. An exhibition of winners will be staged during the 2004 edition of the Golden Drum festival, which is held each year in Portoroz.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Kehrt Reyher
Modern Media Institute
(22) 858 20 30
Warszawa
Poland

or

Karen Stevenson
Modern Media Institute
(646) 234-3791
New York, NY

http://www.media.com.pl/institute