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Academy Students Grab Top Spots at Addy Awards

Students from the Academy of Art University created some of the best advertisements in the Student ADDY Awards, winning 30 medals, including Best of Show.  Twenty-seven of the winners will be moving on to the regional competition.

The American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association, conducts the ADDY Awards through its 200-member advertising clubs and 15 districts.  The ADDYs are the only creative awards program by the advertising industry for the advertising industry, and the ADDYs are known as the world’s largest and toughest advertising competition.  Students from the Academy have participated in the local ADDY competition for more than 10 years.

Academy of Art University students won awards in eight of the 12 categories, including the Best of Show Award.  Tor E. Fosberg, the copywriter of Close and Personal for Hobie Kayaks, worked with Art Director Santiago Fernandez to win the Best of Show Award in the Magazine Ad Campaign category. Winning the prize validated Fosberg’s confidence in the project. "It feels like a confirmation of what I already felt, that the idea and the execution was worth showing to other people," Tor said. 

MFA student Alicia Kawamura also made a strong showing, winning five ADDY awards for three different advertising campaigns.  She partnered with Rutul Patel for one of them, Fore! for Callaway Golf, which demonstrated the power of Callaway’s clubs to help golfers launch long drives. That campaign alone won three gold ADDYs for print, direct mail and non-traditional media.  "I was shocked when I found out," Alicia said.  Alicia’s work can be viewed online here and here.



Other award winners include art director Jae Yun Kim who won a gold medal with copywriter James Duffy for their project in the non-traditional advertising category.  The pair created an outdoor campaign for Office Depot.  "We thought what if they’re out of paper, glue for outdoor ads," said Jae Yun.  Jae Yun chose to come to the Academy as an international student from Korea because of the advertising school curriculum.



Academy students learn from working professionals and receive the latest information from the real-world ad industry. "It really helps to have teachers who are working in the industry.  They know what is current in advertising and can spotlight emerging trends," Alicia said.  " But perhaps most importantly for any student, they also help establish solid connections to the industry."  Tor also agreed that the teachers at the Academy provide a professional edge. " Some of the teachers'have a very up-to-date perspective of what's current in the world of advertising and this helps immensely when I have to ‘chisel’ out my portfolio," Tor said.  " They also indoctrinate us on how to get in the door and how to stay there."

Academy of Art University congratulates all of students who entered this rigorous competition.  The ADDY Awards are very selective and competitive, and the Academy is honored to have so many winners at such an impressive caliber.
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