May 18, 2010 >>
First-place winner of the Midwest Independent Publishers Association Awards
WDG Publishing’s 2009 release, Harker’s Courthouses...Visions of an Iowa Icon by Michael Harker has been awarded the Midwest Independent Publishers Association’s highest honor, the Bronze Medallion, as best in category for one- or two-color cover design. The awards ceremony was May 12, 2010 in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
As one Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA) judge says, “Yes, yes, yes – wanted to open it immediately!” And also, “Black-and-white [photography] was a great choice for the subject matter – it allows the viewer to focus on the architectural detail.”
Well-known and popular Iowa documentary photographer, Michael P. Harker has compiled a pictorial history of the beautiful and stately county courthouses of Iowa in his book Harker’s Courthouses…Visions of an Iowa Icon. The volume of captivating black-and-white, architectural photography highlights 54 of Iowa’s 100 county courthouses that are significant pre-1940 structures.
Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA) is a non-profit organization serving the Midwest publishing community. Founded in 1984, MIPA is an affiliate of the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA).
Soft-cover bound, 10´´ x 9´´, 96 pages, over 124 black and white images.
Contact us to order your copy.
April 30, 2010 >>
The awards keep rolling in...
WDG is excited to announce that we have won a Silver Award at the AAF District 9 ADDY® Awards in the new category of Book Design (Entire Book) for our book One Week in June: The Iowa Floods of 2008. Our award qualifies the entry to be judged on the national level among all district winners nationwide.
The ADDY® Awards Competition is a three-tier national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation. The ADDY® Awards Competition is the advertising industry's largest and most representative competition for creative excellence.
March 8, 2010 >>
WDGC Adds Eight More Awards to the Collection.
Three Golds, four Silvers, and one Best of Category — we've been busy being awesome. February 20, 2010, WDG Communications was invited to the 2009 American Advertising Federation Cedar Rapids/Iowa City Addy Awards Gala and came home with an armful of honors. We enter our work in the Addys every year, and we're happy when we walk away with even one award. So you can imagine our surprise when we won eight of them! While awards are never the goal of our work, it is nice when we do get recognized for the work we produce every day. And that is why we would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful clients! We believe our success at the Addys speaks volumes of the success we are helping create for you as well.
Our awards are as versatile as our abilities — spanning from book design to logo design to designing full campaigns. Gold Addys were given to books Wayne State College: Far from Normal and One Week in June, The Iowa Floods of 2008. Our design for American Cancer Society's Spring Break Destination of Hope Gala also received a Gold Addy and was chosen as the Best in Category for Public Service Campaign. The Silvers were given to One Week in June, The Iowa Floods of 2008, the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library's Slovo magazine, the book Child of the Church: University of Dubuque 1852-2008, and a logo created for the Cedar Rapids Freedom Festival Rib Fest.
Congratulations to all involved!
July 16, 2009 >>
WDGC to Rebrand Belle Plaine Nursery 's Christmas Collection
WDGC is planning on helping making everyone’s Christmas a little more merry and bright as we rebrand Belle Plaine Nursery’s Christmas Collection collateral and fundraising package. Belle Plaine Nursery has been creating wreaths, garland and swags for indoor and outdoor evergreen Holiday décor for over fifty years. The fundraising component allows groups and organizations sell the Holiday product to raise funds for their organizations.
March 31, 2009 >>
WDG Publishing announces an anniversary flood book, One Week in June...The Iowa Floods of 2008, due for release in the Summer of 2009.
From Sunday, June 8 through Father's Day, June 15, 2008 the Cedar River swelled and rolled on south. At the same time, to the west, the Iowa River was also growing. The two rivers join, in a confluence, just northeast of Columbus Junction and flow on to the Mississippi River. We knew after the winter snows that the potential was there for flooding. No one, however, could anticipate or adequately prepare for what happened. This 144-page book documents the story as the crest moves south inundating communities and farmland alike. A pictorial before, during and after look at the heart-breaking devastation that is still evident now, a year later.
Michael P. Harker joins the WDG Publishing stable with a new title,
Harker's Iowa Courthouses.
Michael P. Harker, well-known and popular Iowa documentary photographer is partnering with WDG Publishing to publish a new title, Harker’s Iowa Courthouses. A look at the historic, stately county courthouses of Iowa in beautiful black and white photography, this book will highlight significant pre-1940 edifices. Harker is also known for his successful documentary volumes; Harker's Barns and Harker's One-Room Schoolhouses. The book will also contain an introductory essay by Loren Horton, retired as senior historian after twenty-four years of working for the State Historical Society of Iowa.. The book is due for release in October, 2009.
March 30, 2009 >>
Rockwell Collins signs on with WDG Publishing to commemorate 75 Years of Leadership and Innovation in Radio Communication and Avionics.
“One small step for man and one giant leap for mankind.” Those immortal words were heard from astronaut Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969, as he stepped from the lunar module onto the surface of the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon. Those words were transmitted from the Moon via Collins Radio equipment. From the time, in 1924, when fifteen-year-old Arthur Collins made the only daily radio contact with the McMillan Expedition to Greenland to now when virtually every aircraft communicates with avionics from Rockwell Collins, it has been an extraordinary story. This comprehensive pictorial history of this amazing journey is due to be released in Fall 2009.
June 24, 2008 >>
WDGC survives historic 31-foot flood crest and moves into temporary offices.
WDG Communications' offices were inundated by the flooding of the Cedar River on June 12 and 13. With our offices on the river walk on First Street SE, we took the threat seriously from the beginning. On Monday and Tuesday, June 9 and 10, we moved all of our files and book inventories from the Hach Building basement storage to a vacant space on second floor. On Wednesday, as crest estimates continued to escalate, we began evacuating our offices. At about 3:00 we had over 2 inches of water in the lower level of the vault and at about 4:00 we lost power to the building. At that point we lost elevator access to the second floor and basically abandoned our evacuation. We took all critical media home with us, including over 600 archival discs and archival images that we had in our possession.
When we were allowed to return to the building on Tuesday, June 17, we found that our offices were heavily damaged and not habitable. We had two windows broken out and the "river ran through it" The water mark on the walls indicated that we had about eight feel of water on the first floor. All fixtures, furniture, telephone system, shelving, refrigerator, microwave and work stations were destroyed. We have been told that it will take about eight weeks to restore power to the building.
With the wonderful generosity of Cedar Graphics in Hiawatha, we moved into temporary quarters yesterday. We have reinstalled our server and currently all computers are connected to our network. We are also operational with individual e-mail capabilities. Our telephone numbers, 319.396.1401, 800.626.0411 and 319.396.7572 (Carrots), have been temporarily rerouted to our cell phones. We will have our regular phone service operational on Thursday, June 26.
We are very fortunate to escape with the minimal damage that we sustained. We appreciate the concerned calls and e-mails. It is gratifying to know we have your support.
