ADDY Award Winners 2022

This year, 13 graphic design students, a graphic design master student, and a studio art master student from Pensacola Christian College earned 8 Gold and 12 Silver awards at the American Advertising Awards (ADDY) Gala, as well as all 3 Judge’s Choice awards.

The 2021–2022 American Advertising Awards invited artists to submit advertising entries in the three-tier competition (local, district, and national). At the ceremony on February 19, a panel of judges awarded a Silver ADDY for entries worthy of recognition, and a Gold ADDY for entries of high-level creative excellence.

Ben Swanson (Sr., VA) won two Gold awards, as well as a Judge’s Choice award for his direct mailer package design. Countless hours of hard work and several all-nighters went into creating his entry. He was very grateful for the recognition he received at the gala. “The ADDYs gave me an opportunity to network with some of the other award-winning students,” Ben said. “[It was] surreal to feel God’s blessing on countless hours of hard work, and very humbling to see my work next to other incredibly talented students.”

Of the students who received awards, Abigail Hauser (Sr., IL) won Silver for her advertising campaign, Polar Ice Cream. Abigail explained how she came up with the design. “I was trying to merge a polar bear into an ice cream cone—it wasn’t quite looking right,” she said. “My husband actually called it ‘scary bear’ for a couple of days while I was working.” Abigail created a logo, business cards, magazine ads, and other projects for her fun fictional ice cream store. “I wanted it to be something that would attract children, so I used light, playful colors, and I paired it with a secondary handwritten type style.”

Senior Jenny Yoder (FL) entered the ADDYs not expecting to win anything. However, her website design, “Mountainside Adventures,” earned her a Silver award. “I was inspired by a trip my family took a few years ago to Colorado, where we went to a zipline park in the mountains. It was one of the highlights of that trip for me,” Jenny said. “While I worked on [the website], it brought up a lot of fun memories, which made it a more special design for me.”

Kathy Sumardi (Indonesia), a junior, won two Silver awards for her entries “Creation Care” and “Overcoming.”  Kathy explained that the creative design process for each student is different. For her, the process involves spending some time with a sketchbook and then visiting Pinterest and other creative platforms. Regardless of the steps between the beginning and end, Kathy always starts the same way. “Before I start my project[s], I will always pray and ask [for] God’s help,” she explained. “I know that I could not do this without Him.”

The ADDYs is a professional competition that many students are ready for—whether they realize it or not. “These [awards] are proof to me—proof that God is leading me to [study] the right major at the right college,” said Evon Zhang (Jr., Northern Mariana Islands), who won Gold and Silver awards for her book cover designs.

Congratulations to each student for their hard work and dedication!