Next-Gen Talent Shines: Meet the 2025 SkillsUSA Pin and Advertising Design Medalists
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In June, SkillsUSA held its annual National Leadership & Skills Conference (NLSC) — a five-day event in Atlanta that drew in more than 19,000 attendees. Thousands of career and technical education (CTE) students came together in a competition setting to showcase their skills in various trades. The Arts section of the competition included several contests from pin and advertising design to screen printing, sublimation, and T-shirt design.
The Arts section of the competition featured 114 contests, including middle school, high school, and college preparatory school students, and over 1,200 medals were awarded. To highlight the next generation of graphic artists, Promo Impressions caught up with some of the 2025 NLSC Medalists from the pin design and advertising design competitions.
2025 SkillsUSA Pin Design Winners
Emma Wilhelm – Gold Medal, High School Division
Heading into her senior year at The Greenspire High School, Emma Wilhelm brought home a gold medal for her pin design at this year’s SkillsUSA NLSC. Her passion for drawing began when she was a young child, and she’s been creating ever since. “It’s what I love to do,” she says.
That enthusiasm for the arts carried her through many years of art classes. Eventually, it led her to her first graphic design course (Graphic Arts A) at Northwest Education Service Career Tech (NESCT) during her junior year. The class, taught by Rebecca Kinnee, NESCT’s graphics arts instructor, introduced Wilhelm to the tools and techniques of professional design.
NESCT supports local school districts by offering 11th- and 12th-grade students CTE that builds skills for high-skilled, high-demand, and high-wage careers, as well as prepares them for post-secondary education.
Through the graphics arts tech program, Wilhelm entered the SkillsUSA competition, winning first at the state level before advancing to nationals. “The prompt for the design was to make a pin representing the state. I sent out a survey to Michigan residents, and some of the most popular results inspired and influenced the design,” Wilhelm shares of her inspiration for her entry.
Her process began with several thumbnail sketches drafted on paper, followed by gathering references and inspirational images before moving to digital tools. She used Procreate for the final design and Illustrator and Photoshop to add text. “My biggest challenge was time management, which I’m working on,” she shares.
At nationals, competitors had to present their work to a panel of judges – something Wilhelm was nervous about, but it paid off in the end, winning gold in the high school division.
“Emma’s talent is remarkable, especially given her visual impairment,” Kinnee shares. “She’s quick, detail-oriented, and deeply thoughtful in her work. Collaborating with her on revisions for her pin design was a joy — she took feedback with grace and maturity, using it to solve design challenges with clarity and intention. Her precision and ability to elevate each project made her work truly shine.”
Wilhelm says winning has been transformative. “It opened up a gateway of opportunities for me and my future career in the arts and design,” she says, adding that the experience increased her confidence and proved to her that she has a chance at a successful career as an artist.
Asking about her dream job, she says: “It’s always been a dream of mine to work for The Pokémon Company International.”
Madelyn Cook – Gold Medal, Middle School Division
Madelyn Cook just finished middle school and is now in ninth grade at Petersburg High School. Representing South Branch Career & Technical Center in Petersburg, West Virginia, she won gold in the middle school division for her pin design.
“This was actually the first year that the vocational center that is affiliated with my school ever sent middle school competitors,” she shares. “My advisor thought I’d be the perfect fit for pin design and asked me if I was interested.”
Her winning design was inspired by her “pop,” a coal miner whom she wanted to pay tribute to. “The Mothman is well known all over West Virginia, and I wanted to take a more cartoonish approach on the creature,” she explains. “So by combining the two along with other cultural elements from West Virginia, my final design was born.”
She says coming up with the concept was easy, but the challenge came in the execution. “I was relieved to learn that Canva is a very user-friendly platform that brought my vision to life,” she says. “I used Canva to create my design and presentation board.”
She even went the extra mile to create a handout for her pin because she wanted people to understand the significance behind each element she thoughtfully designed.
Describing her overall competition experience as unforgettable, she says: “Sitting in an NBA arena filled with thousands of people in red blazers who are just as passionate about SkillsUSA as the person next to them is a feeling you can’t describe.”
After such a positive NLSC experience, where she strengthened her skills in preparedness and time management, she hopes to make an impact and become an officer for SkillsUSA at the state and national levels.
“This win means that anything is possible,” she shares. “I’m so honored to bring home the first national win for South Branch Career and Technical Center, and I really want to show others that even a small-town girl can win on a national stage.”
After high school, Cook dreams of attending college to become a therapist.
Emma Schwantes – Silver Medal, College/Post Secondary Division
Emma Schwantes lives in Madison, Wisconsin, where she attends Madison Area Technical College. With an associate degree in mechanical design technology already under her belt, she’s now in her third year, working towards her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.
With dreams of becoming a CAD designer or a mechanical engineer, she hopes to work for a company like Fiskars that designs crafting equipment. “I crochet way too much in my free time, so helping to create supplies and equipment that can help other crafters hone their skills is my biggest goal,” she shares. “I like being able to create 3D models and then use a type of production, like CNC milling or 3D printing, to bring it to life.”
Asking how SkillsUSA has helped her realize her career goals and confidence in pursuing them, she says:
“Without SkillsUSA, I would have never found my love for CAD, nor would I have been as confident as I am today. I was really shy when I was younger, but being in SkillsUSA, and being a state officer, I have the opportunity to speak in front of hundreds and share with them my story in being in SkillsUSA, and that has helped me start to get over my fear of public speaking. I’m not the best with it just yet, but I will continue to speak in front of other members so that they know their voices can be heard too.”
Reflecting on her NLSC experience last year, she noticed a trend: The most popular pin designs were the easily recognizable ones.
“The Utah rubber chicken, the Pennsylvania ketchup packet, and the Tennessee pink Cadillac were some of the most popular,” she recalls. “So, I had the idea to make a pressed penny into a pin. One pin that also really inspired me was the Montana belt buckle.”
She started with a simple sketch. “Making the design actually look like a pressed penny with the colors that I used was my biggest challenge,” she explains. “I was nervous that my abilities couldn’t bring what I had in my head onto paper in the way that I wanted it to.”
After finishing her first draft, she asked her peers, teachers, and family for feedback and made some changes, including adding a small piece of cheese to the hook in the pin to represent Wisconsin.
"Eventually I settled on my final design,” she says, “and I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out.”
Though she was already familiar with Procreate, the competition pushed her to dive deeper into the program and unlock its full capabilities. She looks forward to applying those skills in future projects.
“I won gold back in 2023 for Chapter Display at the high school level with two of my friends, but this win feels more to me because I did it all myself,” she shares. “I had help from those around me, but the points and the effort and the design all came from me. I feel proud of myself for being able to not only compete at the national level, but to also win.”
2025 SkillsUSA Advertising Design Winners
Elizabeth Seifert – Gold Medal, High School Division
Elizabeth Seifert, a senior at Washington Township High School in Valparaiso, Indiana, is part of the Porter County Career Center’s CTE program for juniors and seniors.
Seifert is enrolled in the graphic design program, which prepares students for entry-level positions in the graphics communications industry. She spends mornings at her home school, then two to three hours at the career center.
She credits her early interest in art and her dad’s support for the artistic path she’s chosen. “Throughout my whole life, I've always been drawing, sketching in class and whatnot,” she shares. “I think it was my dad who first brought up being a graphic designer to me. ... We're all about trying to make a future for me in an art field because being an artist, it can be a little challenging, especially nowadays with AI. So, my dad was looking for something that could be more sustainable.”
When she’s not designing, she’s sketching. “I have a little sketchbook that I take with me almost everywhere, so it's really fun to put stuff in that book that wouldn't really make it into my design work,” she adds.
Within the graphics world, she’s found a particular interest in the branding side of things — designing logos and helping brands create their identity and message. That’s exactly the opportunity she had at the NLSC in Atlanta.
The advertising design competition featured two parts: a four-hour mechanical section, where she recreated an existing ad, and an eight-hour creative section, which was split into two sessions.
She says the mechanical portion was the most challenging because she was not fully prepared, forgetting to bring both a ruler and a protractor. While she was able to purchase a tape measure at the SkillsUSA store before the competition, it wasn't the ideal tool for her needs.
For the creative portion, students were given a fictional business. Based on its mission, contestants had to create six items: a logo, sticker, flyer, bus shelter ad, water bottle, and tote bag.
Having a love for branding, the creative side was her favorite part of the competition. To start her logo design process, she created thumbnail sketches. This process helped her get all her ideas out on paper before she took her design to Illustrator. Then, she decided which direction to take by looking for a few key elements: readability, symbols, and iconography. She likes to incorporate repeat patterns in her work, so for her winning design, she used a plus sign throughout.
Despite not having the proper tools, she still won gold in the high school division of the competition, and she plans to compete again next year.
“For me, it was validation that I very much needed,” she shares, “because up until this point, I'm like, ‘I really want to do this, but do you think I'm going to get recognized for it? Are my skills actually enough to make a career out of it?’ So it was really important to me that I was able to show to myself that I'm not just someone playing on my computer, you know, I was able to make something out of it.”
Looking ahead, she hopes to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia and start or join a design firm after graduation.
Ana Chauvin – Bronze Medal, College/Post Secondary Division
When Ana Chauvin thinks about her future, one thing is clear: Art will always be at the center. A student at Macomb Community College in Warren, Michigan, she is studying collaborative media with plans to graduate in winter 2026 with her associate degree.
" I have always found a way to make art anywhere,” she shares. “At my job in the senior home, I spent my spare time drawing personalized pictures on their food containers, and as a host, my restaurant started a drink of the week because I amped up their ‘today’s specials’ chalkboard and was able to really bring attention to their products. I’ve been ‘the artist’ since I can remember.”
Her recent experience at the SkillsUSA competition gave her a chance to really test her creative and design skills, resulting in her bronze medal win.
The competition pushed her in new ways, both personally and professionally, she shares. "The whole experience pushed me out of my comfort zone and confirmed that I am pretty good at design and I should go for it,” she says. “It was my first time away from home by myself for a week. I worked super hard and got to meet some really talented people.”
The competition was no small feat – having to create a brand from nothing other than a few details about a fictitious company. “Only by reading a short prompt of a company described as an eco-friendly ‘clutter for cash’ company called Give and Gain, we had six hours to create the brand from scratch,” she explains. “This meant making a logo, a magazine ad, a water bottle, a sticker, a bus shelter ad, and a tote bag design. Sketches and mockups were all part of the process as well.”
With wide-open creative doors and a time limit, she knew she had to approach the project differently. “I wanted to make mine stand out creatively, so I tried to think outside the box,” she says. “The majority of people ran with a theme of boxes and flowers to represent clutter and eco-friendliness. A lot of the reference photos they gave us had polar bears in them, so I decided to make a polar bear made of clutter.”
Her biggest challenges were time management and creating a logo that brought the brand to life. To make it all happen, she used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.
For her, the experience was competitive yet fun and a chance for her to step outside her comfort zone and build her worth and confidence in design.
Looking to the future, she sees herself working as a graphic designer, but she is open to other creative avenues. “... if AI makes the field too competitive, I would love to do live wedding painting as a backup,” she explains. “As long as I’m doing what I love, I’m happy.”
For those in the graphics and printing industries, keep an eye on this next generation of talent — they could be your future hires!