The new brochure for Valencia prototype manufacturer Solid Concepts may have taken longer than anticipated to be completed but the results were immediate. The brochure got out before customers in January and February and in that time the company received $38,000 worth of orders, many of which came from customers who hadn’t done recent business. Previous brochures for Solid Concepts, whose client list includes medical, aerospace, and toy companies, were just updates of an older version but for the new one that company wanted something new. “We are the largest prototype facility in North America,” said Thomas Vorgitch, the company’s vice president of marketing. “We really wanted to highlight that.” The four-color, 10-page brochure not only impressed customers but the judges who awarded it an Award of Excellence at the fifth annual ADDY Awards which took place March 25 in Granada Hills. The award show was put on by the AdPros of North Los Angeles County, the local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. Advertising and graphics design professionals from Orange County reviewed the 60 entries and gave Awards of Excellence, Awards of Distinction, Best Art Direction and Best of Show in professional and student categories. Award of Excellence winners automatically advance to the regional competition going up against entries from an area of the state stretching from San Diego to San Francisco. A winner from there then advances to the national competition. For three years the event took place in the 2-acre backyard of member Jill Mellady, with tables set up around a swimming pool. Starting in 2006, the event was moved to a formal location as the number of attendees grew. For the designers and employees of the companies the awards event is a pat on the back, said Will Sherwood, chairman of the awards event. “For the owner it is about building business and establishing credibility with clients who don’t know good work from bad work,” said Sherwood, whose firm The Sherwood Group came away with 16 awards. Mellady won for her direct marketing campaigning for Home Loan Pros, Inc. in which mailers were sent out in the shape of a Lexus SUV and an oak leaf. “It’s unique,” Mellady said, holding up the car-shaped mailer. “It stands out in the mailbox and gets results.” Christina Kieslich, an in-house designer for Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, came away with multiple awards, including a best in show for a sales kit of the hospital’s facilities maternity services. The front cover of the folder was a picture of a mother with her newborn, a photo that was taken the morning after the woman gave birth. “When you see the photo you don’t need to say much,” Kieslich said. “It shows an amazing experience.” The AdPros has 25 members from an area that includes the San Fernando Valley west of the 405 Freeway to Thousand Oaks and up into the Santa Clarita and Antelope Valleys. The organization provides to its members networking and professional development events, scholarship opportunities for college and university students, and access to other professionals to discuss business practices. “Although we are competing we are not competitors,” said Sandia Ennis, the in-coming president and winner of an award for the website she designed for REOSK.com. “It’s nice to know you can pick up the phone and call someone,” added Eric Harnish, of Harnish Communications in Newhall. “You have a great built-in support system.”