CCM Professor Serves as Judge in International Graphic Design Competition

Stephen H. Longo Evaluates More than 300 Entries for Second Year in a Row – Posted 7/1/14

Stephen H. Longo, professor at County College of Morris (CCM) and an award-winning graphic designer, recently served as a judge for the 20th International Communicator Awards Competition, lending his expertise to review more than 300 graphic design entries.

This is the second consecutive year that Longo, a resident of West Orange, was invited to serve as a judge for the competition. The Communicator Awards is an international competition that recognizes outstanding work in advertising, corporate communications, public relations and identity work for print, video interactive and audio. Entries are judged by industry professionals whose charge is to look for a high standard of excellence and work that serves as a benchmark for the industry. The judging was all done online over a three-week period.

“I was asked to review logos, annual reports, brochures, packaging and signage that were entered by designers from all over the world,” said Longo. “Serving as a judge is an interesting and rewarding experience as it allows me to see a wide range of graphic design work, which I find both inspiring and motivating.”

Last year, he also was selected to judge the 8th Annual International W3 Awards Competition, which recognizes web creativity.

Included among his design work, Longo has created logos and branding identity programs for such blue chip clients as Haagen-Dazs, Weight Watchers Smart Ones, Tang, Star Kist Tuna, Close-Up toothpaste, Ronzoni pasta, Borden’s Cremora, Ore-Ida and 9-Lives cat food.

In 2010, he was presented with a Best in Category Award of Distinction from American Graphic Design & Advertising (AGDA) for a set of menus he designed for the Matsuya Japanese Steak House in Saddle Brook.

The AGDA awards program, considered the premier showcase for graphic design and advertising, is an international competition honoring work that exceeds industry standard in both concept and execution.

In 2012, he received an honorable mention in the 41st Annual International Creativity Competition for his client The Paulinskill Poetry Project, for which he designed a new logo and related materials as part of a rebranding project.

Over the course of his career, Longo has won numerous other awards including several Clios. His body of design work also was nominated for a lifetime achievement award to the Smithsonian/Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in the area of communications design.

Longo, who teaches graphic design at CCM, joined the faculty in 2001. He earned his BFA from the New York Institute of Technology and M.S. from Pratt Institute. Before coming to CCM and opening his own design firm – Stephen Longo Design Associates – he rose through the ranks from junior designer to senior design director at several major international design groups including CatoJohnson, Young & Rubicam, and Lippincott & Marguilies Inc.