After a lengthy deliberation by the American Design Awards’ judges, the winners of the 2012 Summer Quarterly Design Awards were announced on October 3, 2012.

While grading each piece was not necessarily difficult, selecting the winners from among the dozens of finalists proved to be very challenging; provided there were so many award-worthy designs.

In an email written to the American Design Awards team during the final hours leading to the decision, one judge felt the need to explain his difficulty with determining clear-cut winners, stating “I wish it was going to be easy guys, but when I’m looking at 15 to 20 finalists in one category [where all deserve notoriety], it makes it extremely difficult to have to pick only a few. I haven’t seen so many good, solid entries like these in years.”

Usual heavy hitters like Object 9 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana have always demonstrated very strong design skills by winning multiple awards, and this season wasn’t any different. Other noteworthy firms included Kenexa in Lincoln, Nebraska, Rule 29 in Geneva, Illinois, Cyan Concept in Canada, and Sterling Brands in New York City, New York.

“From first-time participants representing small agencies, to large and elite design firms, to individual freelance designers from every corner of the globe, this event saw brilliance at many levels” said Art Javid, co-founder of the American Design Awards. “The fact that the quality of design entries keeps getting better and better, season after season, shows just how far designers have come as a whole, and how proud we should all be to be part of this distinctive, creative and honorable design community.”

The American Design Awards would like to thank each and every one of its participants, and congratulate not just the winners for their well-deserved accolades, but the dozens of runner-ups for having displayed so much passion, creativity and imagination. Thank you.