At 9am on Monday, December 18th, the voting phase of the Draw Outside of the Box contest will come to a close.  On that day, the 30 entries with the most ‘Likes’ in our Facebook ‘Draw Outside of the Box’ album will move on to phase two, in which a panel of esteemed creative professionals (and one former winner!) will review each finalist’s entry and choose the three best designs.

Our panel of judges certainly have their work cut out for them.  Their task will be to single out the very best pizza box design of the 30 finalists — entries which have been competing for public votes (‘Likes’) since the contest began.  This winning design will then be prepared for printing, will go to press, and will become the face of OTTO’s pizza boxes throughout 12 locations (plus delivery and catering services) in MA and ME.  The winner will also receive a pizza party (for up to 30 students) at his/her school, a $100 OTTO gift card, a $100 Artist & Craftsman Supply gift card, an OTTO t-shirt, and an OTTO cap. The winner’s school will receive a check for $1000 to support art education and a $250 Artist & Craftsman Supply gift card.  First through third place will also win pizza and OTTO swag.

It’s a tough job, but we believe our panel is up for the task. (We’d like to mention that these fine and talented folks have volunteered their services for this very special occasion.)

Ladies and gentlemen, our 2017 ‘Draw Outside of the Box’ panel of judges:

Scott Nash
As a founding partner of BIG BLUE DOT, Corey McPherson Nash and NASHBOX, Scott Nash has developed an expertise in the branding and creative development of products and programming for the entertainment, consumer product and publishing worlds. In addition to designing identities for Nickelodeon, PBS, ABC, Comedy Central, FX, YTV, Scott’s design clients include American Girl, Disney, Harvard University, Mattel, Milton Bradley, NFPA, The Boston Pops and From the Top.

Scott’s work as a designer and illustrator has been recognized by leading trade organizations and publications such as The Academy for The Arts and Sciences (EMMY award), PROMAX, Broadcast Designers Association, American Institute of Graphic Arts, Society of Illustrators and HOW, Communications Arts, Print and Publishers Weekly Magazines.

He has lectured widely and taught at Boston University, Northeastern University, The Art Institute of Boston. Currently, he teaches at Maine College of Art, where he helped establish the illustration department.

Scott has illustrated over forty children’s books, including Saturday Night at the Dinosaur Stomp! and The Bugliest Bug, Betsy, Who Cried Wolf! and Betsy, Red Hoodie, the series Snow Day! Beach Day! Rainy Day! and Camping Day! as well as the Flat Stanley series by Jeff Brown.

Scott is also a writer, and is the author/illustrator of TUFF FLUFF, The Case of Duckie’s Missing Brain and The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay The Pirate.

Martin Sorger
Martin is a designer and creative strategist with over 25 years of experience. He has successfully launched, branded, and rebranded companies and products as both the client and a creative consultant. He has held the lead creative position at the film production company Walden Media, ThingWorld, a developer of multimedia technologies, and Gaming VC, an online gaming operator in Europe. Over the years, Martin has worked with entertainment, sports, technology, and consumer brands including OTTO, Harvard Medical School, Roche Bros., Reebok, Disney, Finagle a Bagel, HP, MIT, NEC, NFL, WWE, and BCBS.

Deborah Kovacs
Deborah Kovacs is Senior Vice President at Walden Media, a studio that produces films based on great children’s books, most recently WONDER. On behalf of Walden Media, she is responsible for Walden Pond Press, a middle-grade imprint published in partnership with HarperCollins.

James Spindler
James Spindler is a prolific creative director specializing in experiential, interactive and retail design projects with some of the world’s most innovative brands and cultural organizations. James’s projects include the critically acclaimed

Gagosian for iPad, a quarterly art application that provides unprecedented access to the global network of Gagosian fine artists and galleries, the Grammy® Award nominated Sting 25 music and tablet app project and collaboration with Maya Lin on ‘What Is Missing?,’ a permanent installation at the California Academy of Arts and Sciences. James and his team also developed the identity and interactive films for Mission Juno to Jupiter which received NASA’s Group Achievement Award.

James’s work has been recognized by the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, British Design and Art Direction, the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), the New York Art Director’s Club, The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Clios and the Grammy Awards among others.

James attended Pratt Institute’s Master’s Communication Design program and has been a featured guest lecturer at the School of Visual Arts/New York, Parsons: The New School for Design, VCU Brandcenter and the AIGA/NY. He has also had the privilege of speaking at Nicholas Negroponte’s TTi Vanguard Conference, Design as Strategy.

He is a member of the Curator’s Circle at the Smithsonian Cooper Hewitt National Museum of Design and serves on the International Committee of the Russel Wright Design Center in New York.

Clif Stoltze
As founder and creative director of Boston-based Stoltze Design Group, Clif has nurtured a highly collaborative environment that emphasizes a process based on research, sound strategy
and thorough exploration. This inclusive approach yields compelling communications that effectively articulate and reinforce the message or product.

His agency has been honored by AIGA, the Type Directors Club, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Graphis, and the Society of Publication Designers.

Clif has taught at Rhode Island School of Design and Massachusetts College of Art and frequently lectures at schools and design organizations around the country. He has served as AIGA Boston vice president and was honored as the recipient of their 2005 Fellow Award. Reflecting his love of music and album art, Clif’s book 1000 Music Graphics was published by Rockport in May of 2008 and he is also curator of POSTGIG, a traveling exhibit of contemporary music posters.

Ella Trout
As an eight grader, Ella Trout was the winner of OTTO’s very first ‘Draw Outside of the Box’ contest in 2013. Now seventeen, Ella has been taking college classes in addition to her high school courses, is painting “all the time” (she had a solo art opening last June), and has put her design skills to work by starting up her own clothing business, Yellowjacket.

Thanks to all of our judges! Best of luck to all our contestants!