It takes a creative community – copywriters, art directors, designers, photographers, illustrators, account planners and other creators – all working together to create a Pele-worthy piece of advertising. We motivate each other, teach each other, inspire each other. And when we unite our talents, ideas take shape, sparks of ingenuity fly and creativity is forged. We are all members of one tribe, united in our pursuit to create what has never been created before.

In celebration of the 2022 Pele Awards, we asked Ruth Moen, Illustrator at Dog & Pony Show, to create her own expression of the Pele Awards and tell us what the show means to her.

The Pele Awards originally belonged to Ad Infinitum, the organization that later became AIGA Honolulu or the American Institute of Graphic Arts. A Pele Award was given for excellence in graphic design. In the late 1970s, the Honolulu Advertising Federation, now known as the American Advertising Federation — Hawai‘i (or AAF-Hawaii) took over the competition and it became an advertising and design competition.

Today, AAF District 13 oversees the Pele Awards and it is one of 15 National District Competitions for the American Advertising Awards (also known as the ADDYs). It’s designed to recognize excellence in advertising and design in the State of Hawaii for the past calendar year.