TROY graphic design students win 24 awards in annual ADDY competition

Troy University graphic design students won 24 awards at the American Advertising Federation (ADDY) student competition, including six gold awards, 10 silver awards, four Judge’s Choice awards, two Best in Show awards, the Public Service Award and Student Art Director of the Year.

The American Advertising Awards is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 25,000 entries every year in local AAF Ad Club competitions. The mission of the American Advertising Awards is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising.

TROY students compete in both the Dothan and Montgomery chapters, and nearly 50 entries were submitted between the two divisions.

Nathan Hobbs, a senior from Black, Alabama, was the recipient of two gold awards, three silver awards and two Judge’s Choice awards and was also named Student Art Director of the Year.

“This is such a wild feeling. I wouldn’t have guessed winning much more than one, if that, so it’s impressive and exciting and nerve-racking,” he said.

Hobbs won the majority of his awards alongside his friend and classmate Howard Purvee.

“I’ve known Howard since third grade,” he said. “We’re roommates and we take most of our classes together, so we work really well together and I’m happy for his work to be recognized, too.”

Zhane McKee, a senior from Luverne, Alabama, won the Public Service award and a silver ADDY for her illustration and motion campaign, “A Hard Pill to Swallow,” which pulls from her own experience with depression.

A student showcases her award-winning book illustration on TEAMS. — Abby Vigneulle won a silver ADDY in book design and a gold ADDY and Judge’s Choice Award in illustration campaign for her book “The King in Disguise.”

“There’s always a stigma against people who suffer from depression. I want adolescents and teenagers, young adults, to know that other people do struggle with it—no one’s symptoms are going to look the same and no two people can be treated the same,” she said. “I wanted to bring one side of the story to light. It was a very personal project, and it feels amazing to have it be recognized by the judges, especially to win the Public Service award. I feel like I did my job.”

Anna Gordon, a junior from Brunswick, Georgia, won a silver ADDY in website design for her creation of the IDEA Bank’s DartBoard website. Her award is the first time a TROY student has won in the website design category in three years.

Initially just a class project, the IDEA Bank plans to launch Gordon’s site once their new program is enacted.

“It’s exciting and surprising because I really wasn’t expecting to win anything,” she said. “I worked with the client and got a feel for what they wanted, but the design was mainly inspired from the building the IDEA Bank is in. It’s going to be a really great feeling to see my work actually being used.”

Design professor Chris Stagl said being able to hand out 24 awards to his students was an incredible feeling.

“I am honored and touched to be able to teach these students on a daily basis. To see our alumni come back and win awards, to be a part of the overall creative process with these students and watch them grow and turn into the incredible creatives they are… it’s a great legacy to be a part of,” he said. “Every year it’s kind of a coin flip as to what the judges will like, but I feel confident that these students will be able to continually build on these successes year after year.”

Greg Skaggs, professor and Interim Chair of Art and Design, said the students’ success proves TROY’s design program is competitive with other universities across the state.

“This is always a great time of celebration for them to reap the rewards of their hard labor, but what it tells me is our students are doing good work and that we’re on track with other universities,” he said. “These competitions aren’t judged by anyone local. They’re as far away as Hawaii, South Carolina and Michigan from all different backgrounds, but they’re all recognizing that our students are creating good work.”

The winners are as follows:

Dothan

Silver

Alisa Detlefsen and Abby Vigneulle: The Great British Bake-Off Titles

David Saner: Apple Commercial Series

Gold

Howard Purvee and Nathan Hobbs: Coke Commercial Series

Jill Hall: American Horror Story Freakshow Titles

Cole Patterson: Dexter Motion Titles

Judge’s Choice

Howard Purvee and Nathan Hobbs: Coke Commercial Series

Best in Show