For the second year in a row, Suffolk Living magazine designer Troy Cooper has won Best in Show for design in the Virginia Press Association’s annual news and advertising contest.

Cooper’s design was honored April 20 as the best among all specialty publication entries during the press association’s 2012 Advertising and News Conference and Annual Meeting. He won the same award last year in the magazine’s first year of participation as a member of the organization, which champions the common interests of Virginia newspapers and magazines, offers training opportunities for members’ employees and facilitates print and online advertising programs for its members. VPA’s news contest is one of the largest in the nation, annually attracting more than 5,000 entries, according to the organization’s Facebook profile. This year’s contest was judged by journalists from the Colorado Press Association.

Cooper’s first-place entry in the specialty publications’ design and presentation category included copies of the March/April, May/June and September/October editions from 2012. Writing about the entry, a judge stated: “Compelling covers with tightly cropped photos utilizing colored text in unencumbered placement. … Plenty of great feature story layouts in each issue.”

Cooper also won a third-place award among specialty publications in the page-design category for his layouts in three features: “Farm-fresh fare,” “Suffolk High School 90th anniversary” and “Stumpy’s Bikes.”

Cooper and editor Res Spears shared a third-place specialty-publications award in the front page or front cover category.

“We’re very proud to have earned these honors after such a short time publishing Suffolk Living magazine,” Spears said. “Virginia has some extraordinary publications, and it’s exciting for our small staff to be recognized among them.”

“I’m especially proud of Troy for his award,” Spears added. “He’s an incredibly talented designer, and we’re blessed to have him leaving his mark on each edition of the magazine.”