McGuffin Creative Group Designer Wins 'Pixels of Fury' Design Contest

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Brendan Shanley, Senior Designer for McGuffin Creative Group in Chicago, was victorious in the recent Shutterstock "Pixels of Fury" design contest held during the 2013 AIGA "Head, Heart, Hand" National Design Conference in Minneapolis.

Squaring off against five rival designers from across the country in front of a live audience at the Walker Art Center during the conference's Oct. 12 closing party, Shanley was challenged with using only Shutterstock assets and his imagination to create an original poster that would inspire the audience to action—and doing it all in just 20 minutes with his work projected live on a screen overhead. After the audience voted Shanley on through the first two rounds, he then had to switch gears in the championship round by swapping ideas with his opponent and create a poster without any prior knowledge of what he would be working with.

"In the final round, we only had about five minutes to conceptualize our new take on the competitor's original poster message," said Shanley, who has worked for McGuffin, a West Loop-based advertising and communications agency, since 2006. "Being with McGuffin for more than seven years has provided me with plenty of opportunity to ideate on a wide assortment of topics, working within a variety of timelines. The combined experiences left me well prepared me for this challenge."

About inspiring the AIGA crowd and earning their votes, he said: "Engaging with the audience was really exciting. Since they were voting for the winning designs by text, I aimed to engage with them as much as I could. I would type them messages on screen to get them pumped up and listen for their feedback."

By winning the championship, Shanley earned the Pixels of Fury trophy (aka The Furious Pixel), a 3-month Shutterstock subscription, a $100 Apple Store gift card and the Linotype Originals Font Library by Monotype valued at $6,599, not to mention recognition for McGuffin Creative Group.

McGuffin Creative Group is a 25-member creative agency whose specialties range from branding to advertising, web design to direct marketing. Founded in 2004, the firm's clients include BMO Harris Bank, Allstate, Cadence Health, Cars.com, Remedy Interactive, Torrey Pines Bank as well as many more.

Contact: Andrew Huff
McGuffin Creative Group
312.715.9812 x210

SOURCE McGuffin Creative Group