2004 Arizona Designer of the Year

16 entries

Judges: The design staff of the Los Angeles Times, which — along with its magazine — won more awards than any other publication in the 2004 Society for News Design international competition.

Arizona Designer of the Year

Chris Kozlowski, The Arizona Republic

       Chris Kozlowski, 43, has been a visual journalist since

1987. The Michigan native has designed pages or produced graphics at The Fort Wayne (Ind.) News-Sentinel, the Lansing (Mich.) State Journal, the North Hills News Record, The Detroit News and The

Boston Globe before joining The Arizona Republic in 2002. He also was a consultant on the 2000 redesign of The Cleveland Plain Dealer.

       Kozlowski’s portfolio “shows quite a bit of range and depth,” the judges wrote. “There is smart layering of information and an ability to strike the right tone on a single, dramatic page after a debate or over the length of a complex project on the Colorado River.”

First runner-up

Sara Stewart, Arizona Daily Star

       Sara Stewart, 23, has been a designer for the Arizona Daily Star since May 2004.

       Stewart began her career at the Elgin Courier News in suburban Chicago , where she worked for a year before moving to Tucson for the great weather and the Star. Since then, she has focused on the Business section, also helping out with A1, features and any special sections passed her way.

       Judges praised Stewart’s “clean, thoughtful design mostly executed in a tough area for designers — the Business section. Bright, simple ideas done in a clever but relevant fashion.”

       Stewart grew up in Fremont, Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2003 with a major in News-Editorial and minors in English and history. She also was the design editor for her college paper The Daily Nebraskan.

Second runner-up

Chris Mihal, The Arizona Republic

       Chris Mihal, 23, is a visual journalist with The Arizona Republic.

       He comes from northwest Indiana and attended Ball State University. After completing news internships with the Virginian-Pilot and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. he was hired at The Arizona Republic in September as an A1 and projects designer.

       Judges said Mihal submitted a “dynamic, colorful, smart portfolio with clean utility when necessary (post-election) and polished, high-design concepts when needed (Race Week).”

       When he’s not at the design desk, Mihal usually is reading, watching movies or playing with his dogs, Calvin and Silvio.