The ICA’s second poster competition
draws a group of 70 entries

A spectacular display of artwork, located on a gallery floor overlooking the lobby of the Rajputana Palace Sheraton, drew a steady stream of visitors, during the week of the ICA Congress in Jaipur. It included some 70 poster designs-all entrants in ICA’s Second International Poster Competition for Colored Gemstones.
The mastermind behind the event was Yehuda Kassif, of Israel, who served as its initiator and chief organizer. His fellow coordinators were Poster Competition Committee members Jaqui Grande of Radiance International, San Diego, USA, and Constantin Wild of W. Contantin Wild & Co., Idar Oberstein, Germany.
"While the first competition, held in May 2001 in Sydney, could have been defined as a pilot contest, this second one really has put itself clearly on the map,” said Kassif, referring to the large number of entrants, and the considerable time and effort that were clearly invested in the individual poster designs. The contestants hailed from 10 countries.
Few graphic instructions were provided. Simply, the posters would be judged on their effectiveness in promoting gemstones. They had to be 35 by 50 centimeters in size, unsurprisingly in full color, and had to include the ICA logo, ICA’s "Go Color” graphic symbol, and ICA’s full name.
On January 8, the next last day of the congress, participants were asked to cast their vote for what, in each individual’s opinion, were the best three posters. "Many of the participants in the congress came up to me and expressed their difficulty as to how to decide. So many of the entries deserved to be awarded,” Kassif recalled.

But winners there were, and once the ballots were counted, first place went to a poster entitled "Life is not always black and white, or gray," designed by Dinesh Malpani of Jaipur.
For his accomplishment, Malpani was awarded a cash prize worth US$500, a full year’s subscription to Jewelry News Asia, and editorial coverage in the ICA Gazette.
"The theme for the poster is largely based on the big canvas of life with the philosophical saying that ‘Life is not always black and white,’ or, for that matter, gray,’ Malpani explained. "On the contrary: we find colors in every thing we do in this living world. "Life is a colorful game.”
"The colorful sequence of the arrangement of the poster is also based on universal ideology of the nature, which includes yellow gold, the sun on the top and the deep blue sea at the bottom, representing the sky and the air, the environment, the greenery and landscape and everything else in between,” he explained. A black background was provided to offset the vibrant color of the gemstones, creating a contrast between the energy and positive attitude of color and those jet-black moments in life.
Malpani, 43, is a fourth generation trader in colored gemstones. He is the director of the Gems Export Center company, which was established in 1975 in Jaipur.

The second prize went to a poster, featuring a chameleon, designed by Kanupriya Taneja and Manjith Moham, of Mercury Marketing and Communications, Jaipur. They receive a US$300 cash prize, a full year subscription to Jewelry News Asia, and editorial coverage in the ICA Gazette.
Kanupriya Taneja, 27, is a senior graphic artist at Marketing & Corporate Communications, a Jaipur-based company. With a graduate degree in the Fine Arts, with a specialization in advertising from the University of Baroda, she is establishing an excellent reputation as a graphic designer, which was well demonstrated by her prize winning poster. On a more regular basis, she is involved in the conceptualization and design of advertisements, corporate identity programs, brochures, leaflets, catalogues, book covers, product packaging or any other promotional material required by the corporate clientele
Third prize went to the poster entitled "Color is the essence of life,” created by Myriam Whitney from Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. She was awarded with a US$200 cash prize, an annual subscription to Jewelry News Asia, and editorial coverage in the ICA Gazette.
The prize money for the winning posters was generously donated by Roland Naftule, who from 1984 to 1989 served as ICA’s first president. He is the owner Scottsdale, Arizona-based Nafco Gems Ltd.
Jewelry News Asia, which generously donated subscriptions as prizes has long been considered a close friend and ally of ICA, and of the colored gemstone community at large.


First prize:
Dinesh Malpani
Gems Export Center
326 Malpani Building, Gopalji Ka Rasta
Jaipur, 302003 India
Tel: ++91-0141-256-0235
Fax: ++91-0141-256-6612
E-mail: gecgems@sancharnet.in

Second Prize:
Ms. Kanupriya Taneja & Mr. Manjith Mohan
Mercury Marketing and Communications
Jaipur, India
Tel: ++
Fax: ++
E-mail:

Third prize:
Myriam Whitney Naftule
Nafco Gems Ltd
10427 N. Scottsdale Road, Suite 204
Scottsdale, AZ 85253, USA
Tel: ++480-9983393
Fax: ++480-9985090
E-mail: myriam@jewelsites.com



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