Winter Film Awards Announces Winner of Official Festival Poster Design Competition

NEW YORK - Jan. 22, 2015 - PRLog -- Work by Student Artist Ana María Velásquez was chosen by a jury to represent Winter Film Awards’ 4^th Annual Independent Film Festival (http://winterfilmawards.com/2015/01/05/winter-film-awards-2015-indie-film-festival-february-25-28-2015/) to take place February 25-28 in New York City. The Competition was hosted by artist and professor Viktor Koen (http://winterfilmawards.com/2014wfa/award-winning-artist-educator-viktor-koen-designs-the-2014-winter-film-awards-official-poster/) in association with the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Winter Film Awards is pleased to announce that the Official Festival Poster artwork for the upcoming 2015 Indie Film Festival was designed by artist Ana María Velásquez from Medellín, Colombia. A competition for best design was hosted by renowned artist and Professor Viktor Koen in his Editorial Illustration Continuing Education course at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

Collaborating with the Winter Film Awards is an opportunity offered in the class and connects talented and motivated commercial artists with their prospective client base, while helping them produce exceptional published portfolio pieces. The class functions with a marketplace frame of mind, and conditions closely follow industry standards. Mr. Koen’s sharp focus on teaching concept development and methodology produced a number of exceptional poster ideas for the Festival to consider, making the selection process both exciting and difficult. However, Ms. Valásquez’ overall composition and sense of humor best crystallized the spirit of the Festival.

Ana María Velásquez lives and works in Medellín, Colombia. She has been a professional illustrator and visual artist since graduating from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in 1998. Ms. Velásquez is commissioned by a wide range of clients and she divides her time between illustration assignments and personal projects. Her work has been exhibited in many group and solo exhibitions around Medellín, Bogotá and Cadaqués (Spain), in venues such as Universidad Eafit, Museo El Castillo, Universidad de Antioquia, Galería La Oficina, Galería 10 -36, Galería Casas Reigner, Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín, Galería la Estampa, Taller Galería Forty and Alianza Francesa. Last fall, while staying in New York, she studied Editorial Illustration, Sculpting and Painting at the School of Visual Arts. www.anamariavelasquez.com

Viktor Koen is an award-winning artist and educator. He holds a BFA from the Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design in Jerusalem Israel and an MFA with honors from the School of Visual Arts. Mr. Koen serves on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts in the Graduate and Undergraduate levels. His images are regularly published in The NY Times, Wall Street Journal and Nature Magazine. His client list includes Penguin, Random House, Doubleday, Harper Collins, Rizzoli, Houghton Miflin, Tor, Time, Newsweek, Esquire, National Geographic, Rolling Stone, Wired, ESPN, Man’s Journal, Bloomberg, Fortune, Money, Forbes, The Nation and BusinessWeek. His prints are exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.

For more information on Mr. Koen and his work visit www.viktorkoen.com.

For more information on the Editorial Illustration class visit www.sva.edu/continuing-education/illustration-and-cartooning/illustration-courses

Winter Film Awards (WFA) is a volunteer-run and operated 501(c)3 organization dedicated to showcasing emerging filmmakers and celebrating diversity in local and international film-making.  The WFA 2015 Independent Film Festival runs from February 25-28 in New York City. For more information on tickets, schedules, sponsors, film descriptions and more, please visit www.WinterFilmAwards.com and find us on Facebook.