Pictured left to right are LCC Business and Industry Dean Warren Moore, LCC President Dr. Rusty Hunt, PICA President Jeff Stoudt, LCC GAIT instructor Dr. Hope Carroll, and LCC GAIT Program Chair Dwight Downie.

Two students in the Graphic Arts & Imaging Technology (GAIT) program at LCC were recently awarded top honors in this year’s student competition for printing and graphics. Jillian Wilson of Kinston and Harley Hancock of La Grange won the top collegiate award for their digital printing and package design of a “ASPCA” pop-box mailer. The top collegiate award is presented by NAPCO, a packaging company located in Sparta, NC and comes with a $500 scholarship presented to the students and a $500 donation to support the Graphic Arts program.

The NAPCO award was presented during the 54th annual Printing Industries of the Carolinas (PICA) Awards presentation, which went virtual this year in September. PICA is the regional trade association for printing in North and South Carolina. They offer member companies opportunities to access value-added resources and services designed to assist them in being more effective, efficient, and profitable in their business. Every year PICA sponsors the PICA Student Awards competition where students can submit designed and produced entries across multiple categories to win recognition in Best of Category, Special Judges Award, and the Award of Excellence. 

PICA President Jeff Stoudt recently visited LCC to hand deliver the top awards. “This is the second year in a row we have won this award,” said GAIT Program Chair Dwight Downie. “We are extremely proud of our students, and we are excited to win this award again.”

This year LCC Graphics students competed against North and South Carolina community colleges and universities, including Appalachian State University, Chowan University, and Clemson University and were awarded eleven awards with five Best of Category, five Special Judges, and one Award of Excellence, in addition to the top collegiate award.

Instructor Dr. Hope Carroll said of her winning students “Jillian and Harley, both as individual students and as a team, always presented their best work and would work tirelessly to produce a solution to a design challenge. This project was like no other we have done included a pop-up box that automatically expanded upon opening, catching the end-user by surprise.”

The Graphics programs are designed to provide students with knowledge and skills necessary for employment in the printing, publishing, packaging, and related industries. Students receive hands-on training in all phases of graphic arts including graphic design; computer graphics; web design; digital photography, and transitional and emerging printing technologies.

The Graphics programs include two programs: Advertising and Graphic Design and Graphic Arts & Imaging Technology. Both programs offer a two-year Associate in Applied Science degree and each offers day, online, and hybrid classes. To learn more about the Graphics programs, or if you have any questions, contact Downie at (252) 527-6223, ext. 604 or email ddownie@lenoircc.edu.