On the Notes on Design blog, writer Chris Costello wrote a recent post praising the work of in-house designers, and the design competitions that recognize it. Chris notes that competitions like HOW's place corporate work in context and help those creative teams bolster their profile within their companies. He writes:

I am very thankful that these types of competitions are growing in popularity because they give in-house designers a chance to compete in their own arena. Winners are rewarded with a sense of legitimacy and well-deserved respect from their coworkers and the design community as a whole. The ability to quantify the success of a design can be obscured in some of the broader competitions that tend to focus primarily on cutting-edge visuals or clever advertising concepts. In-house design competitions also help acknowledge the utilitarian nature of the work submitted.

Chris writes that he wishes HOW's February issue included more winners from our In-HOWse Design Awards -- stay tuned for a bigger crop in next year's annual. If you want to see a few winners from this year, check out the online gallery. And see the In-HOWse Design Awards Best of Show winner here.