In a marketing campaign for Microskills, the company paired with MarketingAnd to produce this advertisement. The idea is you can quit your hourly job, get a degree at Microskills and you will feel as though a crane lifted you out of your dead-end job and placed you somewhere much better, like a stock boy being transported to a pool party.

From billboards to flyers to television commercials to the Internet and, yes, Petco Park, advertising is everywhere. At the San Diego Advertising Club’s 2004 Creative Show Awards program, the creators of some of these ads were acknowledged.

This year, the Best of Show award was divided into three categories: Graphic Design, Advertising and Student Work. The winner for the graphic design category was for a self-promotion piece for Murphy Design Inc. titled “Heaven and Hell.” The winner for advertising category was a local TV commercial by MicroSkills, a technical career school, and MarketingAnd. The piece was titled “Lets Do This.” The winner for the Student Category was Kyle Davidson of the Art Institute of California at San Diego. The piece was titled “Audi Rings.” In addition, both Murphy Design Inc. and Microskills and MarketingAnd received Gold awards.

The Creative Show Awards program, held at the Paradise Point Resort & Spa, honored the advertising, graphic design, illustration and photography professionals in San Diego County. The annual awards show presented 53 awards in advertising (print, TV, radio and public service), graphic design (identity, letterhead, company literature, poster design, editorial design, books and jackets, product packaging and environmental graphics), Web site advertising and design, multi-language advertising, photography, illustration, self-promotion and student work.

Awards were presented in three different categories — Gold (1st place), Silver (2nd place) and Award of Excellence (3rd place), as well as Best of Show.

Six judges individually evaluated more than 170 entries. They were asked by the Advertising Club to award with consideration to the market, recognizing the best advertising done in San Diego during the last year.

This year’s co-chairpersons for the show were Claire Stanley of Stanley Advertising Services and Corrine Lynch of Media Networks Inc. Together they decided the theme was going to be “Respect The Work.” The idea was that good creative advertising makes people think and deserves respect.

Helen Baker, executive director of the San Diego Advertising Club says advertising professionals deserve recognition.

“The Creative Show is important as it provides the vehicle to honor the creative work developed and shown in the San Diego area,” says Baker. “It is important for local talent to be recognized to show their clients their abilities, and for personal satisfaction.”

All of the awards will be on display from May 1 to June 14 at the AIGA Center for Design, 344 Seventh Ave., in Downtown. AIGA San Diego owns and operates the Center for Design.