Press Release
A' Design Award in Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Goes to Bee Poster Series by Sang Ryu
Sang Ryu recognized for graphics, illustration and visual communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 16, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the A' Design Award in the Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design category for Bee Poster Series by Sang Ryu, designed for UNMUTED: Designers for Humanity. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was reached through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The A' Design Award Explained
The Iron A' Design Award is awarded to good designs that meet the rigorous professional and industrial standards set by the A' Design Awards. This recognition is reserved for works that demonstrate a solid understanding of design principles and show creativity within their execution. Recipients of the Iron A' Design Award are acknowledged for their practical innovations and contributions to their respective fields, providing solutions that improve quality of life and foster positive change. These designs are a testament to the skill and dedication of their creators, showcasing their ability to address real-world challenges through thoughtful design.
About Bee Poster Series
The Bee series presents bees as an example of the evolution of life, highlighting their defining attributes in sustaining ecosystems to advocate for conservation. Each piece in the three part series personifies a worker bee's key traits through pollination, habitat building, and collective well being. The series is intended for outdoor display to reach commuters in contexts that encourage thoughtful engagement. Ultimately, it aims to invite reflection on human interdependence within ecosystems in reimagining a changing world.
About Sang Ryu
Dr. Ryu is an Assistant Professor of Visual Communication in the School of Visual Arts at the University of Oklahoma. He earned his B.F.A. in Advertising from ArtCenter College of Design, his M.F.A. in Design/Visual Communications from Virginia Commonwealth University, and his Ph.D. in Design from the University of Edinburgh. He has led commissioned and funded design consultations for private and public bodies, earning international recognition for his work. He has authored, peer-reviewed, and presented work through scholarly publications and venues.
Award Record
With this recognition, Sang Ryu is a winner of 2 A' Design Awards. The awards span the editions from 2023 - 2024 to 2025 - 2026 of the A' Design Award & Competition.
About the A' Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design Award
The A' Graphic Design Award is an international graphic design competition recognizing good graphic designs by best creative agencies and designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to graphic designers, communication designers, graphic artists and illustrators from all countries. Entries typically include logos, posters, infographics, brochures, packaging designs and business cards. Awarded graphic designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/graphics
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/183509
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/183509
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!183509
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/350367
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Bee Poster Series
- Function
- Poster Series
- Category
- Graphics, Illustration and Visual Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising and Arts
- Colors
- Orange, Black, Goldenrod, Dark Slate Gray and Dark Olive Green
- Images
- 5
- Client
- UNMUTED: Designers for Humanity
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Sang Ryu
- Country
- United States of America
- Recognition
- A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #183509
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The Bee? poster series was designed in response to the call for submissions for UNMUTED: Designers for Humanity, presented by Graphis, in the Climate and Environment category. The three-part series promotes bee conservation as a first step toward environmental stewardship. Bees were chosen as a topic because they are indicator species that are often overlooked despite their drastic decline due to environmental crises and their vital role in maintaining ecosystems.
- Inspiration
- The design brief outlined the climate crisis and sustainability challenges as guiding themes for communicating change through poster or motion design. In response, the design objective aims to reinforce awareness of human coexistence within ecosystems, particularly with bees, as an actionable step toward supporting nature. The poster series presents bees as an example of the evolution of life, highlighting their commitment, craftsmanship, and dedication as lessons to learn from.
- Research
- The Bee? poster series presents bees as an example of the evolution of life, highlighting their defining attributes in sustaining ecosystems to advocate for conservation. Each poster in the three-part series personifies a worker bee's key traits through pollination, habitat building, and collective well-being. The series is intended for outdoor display to reach commuters in contexts that encourage thoughtful engagement. Ultimately, it aims to invite reflection on human interdependence within ecosystems in reimagining a changing world.
- Challenge
- How can design invite people to support human coexistence within ecosystems? How can design promote empathy for bee conservation to raise broader environmental awareness?
- Realization and Technology
- Each poster features copy-driven and call-to-action lines that prompt reflection on the significance of bees as living beings. A series of graphic icons serves as visual cues, allowing viewers to infer the defining attributes of a worker bee: (a) labor through pollination, (b) artistry in habitat building, and (c) allegiance to collective well-being. In execution, Adobe Fonts was used for typographic refinement, while Adobe Firefly was used for image generation.
- Operation and Interaction
- The posters are meant for display in high-traffic areas. Locations are scouted to include parks and gardens where bees are commonly found, as well as urban and transit areas where pollution and exhaust fumes are prevalent. The visual language helps communicate the message both playfully and quickly, designed to draw the attention of commuters in motion, whether wary or indifferent.
- Project Duration and Location
- UNMUTED: Designers for Humanity closed for submissions in February 2026. The poster series was developed from December 2025 to January 2026.
- Keywords
- UNMUTED, Climate, Environment, Bee, Poster, Sang Ryu
