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Specialties Markerboards | Exterior Sun-Control Devices | Vehicle-Charging Stations “Versoleil SunShades by Kawneer are a nice ‘right-out-of-thebox’ solution. Interesting that they integrate with existing Kawneer products and can be installed either vertically or horizontally based upon orientation.” — Robert Luntz

Furnishings Window Treatments | Office Furniture | Seating | Fabrics “Halina is a lightweight, interesting alternative to a sheer fabric for windows.” — Paulette Pascarella

Plumbing & HVAC Residential Plumbing Fixtures | HVAC Cleaning Devices “The KWC Ava seems like such a no-brainer! How much energy is wasted by the normal mix at the 6 o’clock position? If it really makes a difference, other manufacturers should pay attention.” — Gina Bocra

Electrical Interior Lighting | Exterior Lighting | Bulbs “We selected the Kelvin LED as grand winner because the manufacturer and designer have solved many issues associated with quality LED lighting all in one fixture.It has great color and output, elegant design, innovative technology, heat management, and is human-centric.” Jason Neches & —Maureen Moran

Editors' Choice

The jury picked as “the best in show” a drawing of a gate from a Japanese garden by Truc Dang Manh Nguyen, an architect from Piedmont, California. The winner has practiced for 27 years and recently opened his own office. He prefers sketching to photographing buildings. “It forces the eye to focus and the mind to work,” he says, “and it’s easier to commit a work of architecture to memory through drawing.” Nguyen found the small size of the 5-inch-square cocktail napkin to be challenging, and confesses that this is the first time he actually tried to sketch on a cocktail napkin.

View the Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest main page.

The jury awarded cocktail napkin sketches that reflect the spontaneous act of creativity underlyling this ephemeral art form. While a number of entrants treated the cocktail napkin sketch as an exercise in more time-consuming rendering, the jurors admired the artistry of these exercises and included several runners-up that belong to this category.

View the Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest main page.

In addition to the winner and six runners-up, the RECORD editors selected additional sketches notable for their drawing techniques.

View the Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest main page.

And finally, these entries caught the editors’ eyes for approaching the contest in ways that were either innovative—or out-and-out bizarre.

View the Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest main page.

The prize for the best-in-show cocktail napkin sketch by a professional goes to Zeljko Toncic for his drawing of Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Milà, in Barcelona. The jury found it to be quirkily evocative of the 1910 landmark. Toncic, who has practiced for 33 years, says he has sketched the building before but this was the first time he dealt with the difficult medium of the cocktail napkin. “The paper is so soft and absorbs ink readily that maintaining control is tricky,” he notes. “I was trying to capture the essence of the structure without going into extreme detail.”

View the Cocktail Napkin Sketch Contest main page.