Students win 11 awards at annual American Advertising Federation competition

University of South Carolina students won 11 awards for their creative design work, including four Gold ADDY awards, at the annual American Advertising Federation of the Midlands ADDY Awards Competition held Feb. 23.

The local competition is the first of a three-tiered national competition to recognize and reward creative excellence in the art of advertising. Local gold winners are eligible for the district-level ADDY competition.

In addition to the students from the university’s School of Journalism and Mass Communications, university journalism professor Bonnie Drewniany was awarded the AAF Silver Medal Award, the highest honor an AAF chapter can bestow. Recipients are selected based on three criteria: professional success, creative ability, contributions to the general advancement of advertising and contributions to the community. An advertising scholar, Drewniany conducts research on the portrayal of minorities, women and older people in advertising and directs the Ad Bowl and Ad Bowl Symposium, which are held annually in connection to the Super Bowl.

2008 Student ADDY award winners:

Julia Anderson, a freshman visual-communications major from Mount Pleasant, won a Student Silver ADDY for interactive media for Garnet & Black magazine’s Web site: www.garnetandblack.sc.edu.

Ben Buchanan, a senior visual-communications major from Rock Hill, won a Student Silver ADDY for his “Do It With Your Phone” newspaper advertisement designed for the TicketReturn athletic ticket distribution systems featured in The Daily Gamecock.

Courtney Chandler, a 2007 studio-art graduate from Lexington, won a Student Silver ADDY for her cover design of the 2007 off-campus housing guide featured in The Daily Gamecock.

Jessica Nielson, a junior visual-communications major from Clover, won two Student Gold ADDY awards. She was honored for her “Bringing Belly Back” feature spread on belly dancing and “Natalie Brown Tribal” photograph, both of which were featured in Garnet & Black magazine.

Meredith Ray, a visual-communications major from Charleston, won a Student Silver ADDY for her “Prankster” cover design in the Friday Football BLITZ sports section featured in The Daily Gamecock.

Megan Sinclair, a senior visual-communications major from Clover, won two Student Silver ADDY awards. One award was for her “Fall of Student Protests” cover design for the October 2007 issue of Garnet & Black magazine, and the other was for her editorial spread of “Watergate: 35 Years Later,” also featured in Garnet & Black magazine.

Jordan Smith, a senior advertising major from Crozet, Va., won a Gold ADDY for an ad she created in an advanced creative-strategy class at the university. The ad for BIC Lighters won the Gold in the Consumer or Trade Magazine Ad Campaign category of the competition.

Kailey Waring, a sophomore print-journalism major from Ramstein, Germany, won a Student Gold ADDY for her cover design of the Parent’s Survival Guide in the Parent’s Weekend edition of The Daily Gamecock.

Elizabeth Wilson, a junior visual-communications major from Fountain Inn, won a Student Silver ADDY for her “Do It On…” newspaper advertisement designed for the TicketReturn athletic ticket distribution system featured in The Daily Gamecock.

The School of Journalism and Mass Communications offers students many opportunities to hone their professional skills, including professional student organizations, internships, the school’s Carolina News television station and Carolina Reporter newspaper and through student run media.

The Office of Student Media at the University of South Carolina enables students to gain experience in print, broadcasting, online media, advertising and graphic design. The office comprises The Daily Gamecock student newspaper, Garnet & Black magazine, WUSC-FM student radio station, SGTV student television station, Creative Services student design staff and the student advertising office.