The Legacy Award makes people about as famous as they can get. It's going platinum. It is the crown of the fame king. Now, that doesn't mean one out of a thousand people on the street will recognize the recipient. But there's every probability 999 will know the work he or she has done. Fame with a twist.

The Legacy Award was created to honor people who have raised the bar for the Seattle marketing communications industry throughout their careers. Whether from advertising or design, from the client side or agency, we seek to recognize those who have consistently done great work or made it possible for others to excel.

Here's a profile of previous winners, legends in our industry, demigods in our village:

HAL NEWSOM — Hal was creative director and president of Cole & Weber when that agency became the first in the Northwest to have a truly national reputation. Their network TV campaign for Boeing demonstrated to the rest of the country that high quality creative could come out of a place like Seattle. Over the years, Hal oversaw or created work for the blue-chip companies of the Northwest, including Weyerhaeuser, Safeco, Alaska Airlines, RainierBank, and Boeing.

JOHN VAN DYKE — John founded the graphic design firm bearing his name, which was known throughout the country as being one of the premier design shops for annual reports. After closing his design firm to tackle another formidable objective—climbing the tallest peaks on seven continents—John is now establishing a business and reputation as a photographer.

TERRY HECKLER — Terry is the founder of Heckler and Associates, an advertising and design firm. His agency is perhaps best known for the legendary advertising they created in the 1970s for Rainier Beer, K2, and JanSport. In the design arena, Terry has named and designed the identities for some very well known consumer brands: Red Hook, New Balance, and Starbucks.

JOHN KELLY — John as chairman and CEO of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Airlines. While Marketing VP of Alaska, John worked with his agency, Livingston & Company, to create a long-lived, award-winning campaign for the airline featuring the work of director, Joel Sedelmaier. John has been one of the rare clients who not only recognized great creative work, but strongly encouraged it.