NIU senior visual communication students are competing in a hypothetical contest to re-design packages of Quaker Oats instant oatmeal.

Students are entering the Edward M. Wallner Competition for Excellence in Graphic Design which is sponsored by Wallner, Harbauer, Bruce us Associates. “WHBusA works in association with their client Quaker Oats to come up with a hypothetical package to re-design,” said Sandra Bogunia, public relations for WHBusA.

The student-designed packages will not be used by Quaker Oats because the competition is only an exercise, Lomont said.

The competition was established three years ago to give students practical experience with something they might do in the “real” world, Bogunia said.

Max Lomont, Quaker Oats’ vice president, said representatives from Quaker Oats visited NIU and gave students the same briefing about the product that was given to a firm that would normally design the package. The students were presented with a real problem, he said.

There are 23 students from NIU art Professor John DeLillo’s class entering the competition, Bogunia said. She also said the students either are working in teams or individually.

The winner of the competition will receive a $500 cash award, and the runners-up will receive a $100 cash award; however, the number of runners-up has not been determined yet, Bogunia said.

Students who designed a new look for three different varieties of packages will receive three credit hours for their efforts, she said.

In addition, a $1,000 contribution from WHBA will be granted to NIU’s graphic design department, which DeLillo will receive, she said.

The competition will be judged by Lomont, Jerry Harbauer, WHBA president; Ed Wallner, retired Chief Executive Officer of WHBA; Dwight Nelson, Quaker Oats’ senior design manager; Julie Franz, Advertising Age packaged-goods writer and Dave Snyder, Crain’s Chicago Business marketing editor.

NIU was in the competition the first year, and last year students from St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, were in the competition, Bogunia said. The competition is returning this year to NIU because many of WHBA’s design employees graduated from NIU and were in DeLillo’s class, she said.

The awards will be announced May 7 at the Marriott Hotel in Chicago; however, the projects will be judged May 1, Bogunia said.