Design, photography students win awards for advertising work

As is tradition, Rochester Institute of Technology’s College of Art and Design students and alumni received high marks for their creative advertising work in a local competition on March 15.

The student portion of the Rochester Advertising Federation’s (RAF) 27th annual American Advertising Awards (ADDYs) saw six CAD students and a recent graduate combine to win four categories and a pair of scholarships. It continued the yearly standard of CAD students receiving multiple ADDYs.

The event that brings together local professionals and college students to celebrate and recognize excellence in marketing and advertising was held at the Joseph A. Floreano Riverside Convention Center.

Graphic design students Ben Picard and Margaret Sommers captured a gold ADDY and silver ADDY, respectively, for projects that also won each of them a scholarship. Picard was one of two EY Scholarship winners while Sommers was awarded the RAF Scholarship.

Picard won the Digital and Interactive category for "Orbit," a digital app that allows creatives to connect and collaborate on passion projects. 

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Sommers, meanwhile, was runner-up in the Integrated Brand Identity Campaign category with “R Community Bikes Identity Redesign,” a rebranding of the Rochester nonprofit that gives bicycles to individuals in need for free. Sommers’ revamped identity of R Community Bikes aimed to boost its outreach and memorability. She created an agile brand that is consistent across different media, did a website redesign and envisioned an improved use of technology to allow the business to better serve the community.  

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Advertising photography student Maridelis Morales’ “Loéil Mock Campaign” also won a gold ADDY.

Positive/Negative, created annually in an editorial photography and editorial design course led by professors Denis Defibaugh (School of Photographic Arts and Sciences) and Lorrie Frear (School of Design), is no stranger to the competition. Its gold-and-silver-rich history represents the litany of ADDYs — in addition to other awards — the publication has won at the local, district and national levels.

The Rochester ADDYs are the first stage of a three-tier competition that culminates with the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) national ADDYs. All Rochester ADDYs winners advance to the district competition, with winners at that stage moving on to the national awards, scheduled for June 8 in Chicago.

The Rochester Advertising Federation is an AAF affiliate.