It's been said that Vuoden Huiput offers the most for the invited judges: an excellent opportunity to analyze, learn and get excited. The educational function is seen almost as important as the other, more obvious side i.e. the annual evaluation and documentation.
Inka was in this year's jury judging the category of Graphic Design. "The jurying weekend was really intense. Our category was the largest with the amount of participating work. The category had nine different subcategories including identities, packaging, graphic guides and stamps. Comparing these was quite a challenge, yet very rewarding!
One noticeable thing was that the clients had had more courage when acquiring design services. In some works you could really see that the client and the designer had communicated and understood the needs.
It was also interesting to hear how the other judges reacted to different type of works. For example, my fellow judge, Swedish Sakari Paananen was able to give a fresh and valuable look from the outside for Finnish graphic design.
Environmental issues were a big theme in some categories. However, it would have been nice to see it presented in other ways than in color green. Also, we would have liked to see more works refined to every last detail.
Overall, the quality was good. Our graphic design is on a right track. There is much to do but we are obviusly getting there. In my opinion, we were able to choose a good, fresh and inspiring amount of work to be shown in the exhibition. It was a privilege.
