Photo by Bill Green John Tobiason, a multimedia designer with the U.S. Government Printing Office, won an award for a video he created about the production of President Barack Obama’s official picture. He is shown in his Frederick home with a clip from the project on his laptop. Purchase this photo

But for John Tobiason, a multimedia designer for the printing office, the agency's work is more than the products of a printing press.

Tobiason has been working in the creative services division for seven years, creating announcements that have broadcast over Times Square, a video that won the country's premier business award and contributed to the design of a document that any U.S. citizen carries when traveling abroad.

"You're working for the American people," said Tobiason, a Frederick resident. "It's a little different compared to designing an ad."

Tobiason received top honors at the seventh annual American Business Awards for a video he filmed and produced on the printing of the official photograph of President Barack Obama.

The printing was the first time the printing office was able to print the official presidential photo posters that hang on the walls of every U.S. government office worldwide.

"It's the first time GPO has had color presses to print the picture," Tobiason said.

Competitors for the Stevie Award for public relations production of the year included Verizon, Goodwill Industries and Siemens.

Tobiason, a graduate of Frostburg State University, started at the GPO as an intern.

His work also includes animation and even the design of comic books.

He said he recently completed an animated film for the children of military service members to help them adjust to their parents returning from long deployments.

The comic book was a job for the U.S. Navy, in which science and math skills are encouraged for school-age children. The book is being distributed at science fairs, Tobiason said.

Tobiason also had a hand in the new passport design, which features semi-colored scenes of America displayed on each of the booklet's two-page spreads.

"The final product got approved by Secretary Colin Powell at that time," he said.

Tobiason said he developed ideas for certain pages.

The GPO has printed passports for the State Department since the 1920s.

Last May, Tobiason got to see a one-minute advertisement he created for the Small Business Administration get broadcast on the Nasdaq tower in Times Square.

The ad featured major companies that got their start with SBA loans.

Tobiason said he enjoys the creative side of government work, shooting footage with a camera one week and developing 3-D animation the next.

"We're here to help the agencies do their work," he said.