Quark has announced the winners of its annual graphic design competition conducted in association with The Art Institutes – a group of 40 US education institutions focusing on design, media arts, fashion, and culinary arts professionals. This year's entrants were asked to create an original design in QuarkXPress that addresses typography in an informative, historical or humorous way.

The grand prize of an all-expenses-paid trip to the Graphics of the Americas conference in Miami, Florida, was awarded to the student who entered the most compelling poster. This year's grand prize winner, Lina Herrera is a graphic design student at The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, who entered a poster that demonstrated the capabilities of QuarkXPress while staying within the parameters of the competition.

"Out of a field of impressive entries, the judges selected Herrera's as the winning poster. Her design stands out visually and her skill in QuarkXPress is apparent," said Chris Edwards, business development specialist in education for Quark.

"The contest was a great way to show off my design skills while making a statement about type," said Herrera.

In addition to the grand prize, Quark awarded second and third place prizes and named honorable mentions. The winners were:

Second Prize: Randy Pascale of The Illinois Institute of Art

Third Prize: Douglas Gamble of The Illinois Institute of Art

Honorable Mention: Kathleen Dell Street of The Illinois Institute of Art

Honorable Mention: Kevin Heineman of The Illinois Institute of Art

Winners' artwork can be viewed here.