Crestmark was honored during the 2013 American Graphic Design Awards with three Certificates of Excellence for printed materials and direct mailings. One of the largest and long-running competitions of its kind, entries competed against more than 8,000 submissions from across the United States.

Entries receiving awards included Crestmark’s Growth (Fern) Mailing in the Direct Mail and Direct Response category and Five Entrepreneurs Coaster and Crestmark’s 2012 Holiday Greeting in the Announcements, Invitations, and Cards category.

The work was created by Lisa Beattie, first vice president, Crestmark Marketing/Communication Director.

Crestmark’s winning holiday greeting was handmade by Paperworks Studio, a Goodwill Industries of Northern Michigan company that provides jobs to people with disabilities or disadvantages; Crestmark donated the design to Paperworks Studio to sell to provide future funding for the studio.

“It is very important for Crestmark to be able to get our message out to the marketplace as to how we can help businesses obtain the financing and support they need when they need it most. The recognition of the quality of work is great,” said Crestmark’s Marty Blake, executive vice president. “We’re proud of Lisa, our team, and the fact that they also help the community by choosing vendors that make a difference in people’s lives.”

The American Graphic Design Awards is an annual design competition open to everyone in the national creative community: advertising agencies, graphic design firms, corporations, associations, universities, government, publishers and more. It honors outstanding work of all kinds across all media. For more than four decades, the competition has been managed and judged by Graphic Design USA , a news magazine for graphic designers and other creative professionals.