Temerlin Students Win Five District ADDY Awards

Students at the Temerlin Advertising Institute (TAI) at SMU’s Meadows School of the Arts won five awards in the district competition of the annual American Advertising Federation (AAF) American Advertising Awards, or ADDYs, held March 23-24 in Dallas. Students took home a gold award, a silver award and three bronze awards. An ad for an air purifier by Matthieu Smyth and Jennifer Nelson won both the gold and silver in separate categories and will now move up to the national competition, to be held in Chicago in June.

The district competition is the second of the three tiers of the national ADDY Awards. The first tier was the local competition held in Dallas in March, where SMU won 16 awards, a record for the university and more than the number won by the other four competing colleges combined. At the third tier, the national level, student entries are eligible for a finalist certificate, a national Student American Advertising Award for first-place winners, and a $1,000 cash prize for the national Best of Show winner.

The district competition includes entries from professional agencies and colleges throughout Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma that won gold and silver awards in their respective local competitions. Judges for the district contest were Mike Heidl, creative director of Westphal in Milwaukee; Mary Knight, vice president and executive director of Hydrogen Advertising in Seattle; and Adrian Zavala, creative director of The Community in Miami.

“I cannot be more proud of our students and how well they have represented TAI this year,” said Mark Allen, SMU Meadows lecturer. “They have worked so hard, and it shows in their craft and the recognition they are receiving for it.”

The SMU district-winning entries were as follows:

GOLD AWARD

CLIENT: An ad purifier
CATEGORY: Art Direction
CREDITS: Matthieu Smyth and Jennifer Nelson

SILVER AWARD

CLIENT: An ad purifier
CATEGORY: Out of Home – Single
CREDITS: Matthieu Smyth and Jennifer Nelson

BRONZE AWARDS

CLIENT: Dr. Bronner’s
CATEGORY: Print
CREDITS: Grace LaMontagne and Jolie Guz

CLIENT: Philips Hue Lighting
CATEGORY: Print
CREDITS: Eric Sedeño, Kirsty McLauchlan, Grey McDermid

CLIENT: Help USA
CATEGORY: Copywriting (digital billboard)
CREDITS: Laura Walsh and Caroline Moss