Tracie Rawson of the Baltimore Sun is MDDC’s 2021 Designer of the Year. This award is based on a designer’s work through the contest cycle.  Each designer is required to submit 8-10 pieces, showing creativity and the ability to design across platforms and a letter of recommendation from his or her manager.   

The entries were judged by Greg Conderacci of Good Ground Consulting and Adam Marton of the University of Maryland. This year, the two nominees were both previous winners of the Designer of the Year award.  Tracie Rawson won in 2019 and Sara Travlos won in 2020, and both have been strong contenders for this prize.    

The judges remarked on Rawson’s spectacular work, going on to note her work is creative, clean and well-rounded.  She has a wide range of topics and content perspectives with which to work.  She takes full creative control of the photo shoots for topics and works successfully within design rules to bring a good range of style and tone. 

Trif Alatzas, publisher of The Baltimore Sun shared in his nomination letter, “Whether she’s wrist-deep in kimchi for a photo shoot, creating engaging typography for an article about the Underground Railroad or drawing rich illustrations for a magazine cover, Tracie Rawson consistently creates strong visuals.” 

About our nominees 

Sara Travlos, Catholic Review 

The judges commended Travlos’ innovative layouts and terrific covers.   Catholic Review’s Associate Publisher Chris Gunty, Sara’s nominating editor, writes, “Sara takes the initiative to research and learn new ways to push the Catholic Review beyond today’s standards when it comes to magazine layouts and design.”