Awarding creativity
Liberty University students receive 26 ADDY Awards and regional recognition at the awards gala March 4 for creative work in advertising
ACHIEVEMENTS — Blake Embree and Cody T. Davis are two of the many Liberty students who won ADDY Awards at the March 4 ceremony for their creative work in advertising.
Photo Credit: Caroline Sellers
Western Virginia American Advertising Awards presented 26 ADDY Awards to Liberty University Department of Studio & Digital Arts students at its awards gala March 4, recognizing students for their creativity and excellence in advertising.
“The main purpose of both the professional and student awards is to recognize creativity in our area,” American Advertising Awards chair Kymberleigh Davis said.
“(We want to) salute and find the best work (each) year.”
Liberty students earned 10 gold and 16 silver ADDYs in the local competition.
Several students won multiple awards, and graphic design student Cody Davis earned student Best of Show with his piece, “GLXY EDM Festival,” a branding project for a hypothetical electronic dance music festival.
“I distinctly remember thinking to myself, ‘Who is going to win (best of show),’” Davis, a Liberty senior, said.
“I wasn’t super confident in thinking my pieces would win much of anything. When they called it out, I didn’t know what to say. I was humbled.”
Davis said pursuing a career in advertising is not one of his priorities, but participating in the competition is an asset on job applications and resumes.
The broad range of entry categories drew Davis to the competition, and he won gold ADDY Awards in both the collateral material and apps categories.
Liberty students dominated the competition, winning 16 of the 30 student awards, according to the Liberty University News Service.
The seven main categories of entry ranged from sales promotion to illustration and had sub-categories to further divide the entries into different mediums and styles.
Senior graphic design major Chloe Trexler won two gold ADDY Awards for a branding project, one for brand identity and another for logo design.
Trexler also earned two silver ADDYs in 2016 and said it was encouraging to see how she has improved from the previous year.
“It was good just to enter something that was useful because advertising is so useful in our world today,” Trexler said.
“Graphic design plays a big part in (advertising). I’m hoping that by having that on my resume and being able to enter into a competition like (the ADDYs) that it will teach me a little more about advertising and possibly help me to get a career in advertising.”
According to Davis, the awards gala serves to honor recipients for their achievements and offer networking opportunities for both students and professionals.
“If you come (to the gala), it can help you find an internship,” Davis said.
“You can come and network. It helps give you a leg up (because advertising) can be kind of a hard industry to break into unless you know somebody.”
The ADDY Awards, conducted by the American Advertising Federation, are for both students and professionals.
According to the AAF website, the competition is a three-tier national competition. Entrants initially submit their work at a local level. Winners are advanced to a district competition before continuing to the national competition.
Student and professional works are judged separately, and a panel of judges examines each piece for creativity and design.
Winners of the student-specific ADDY winners may receive a finalist certificate, an American Advertising Award (first-place winners) or $1,000 cash prize for best of show at the national level.
For a complete list of award recipients visit www.aafroanoke.org.
Smith is a news reporter.