Visual communications design student and instructor win 16 American Advertising Federation awards

Charles Wood of Richmond, Va., a fourth-year visual communications design student in Virginia Tech’s College of Architecture and Urban Studies, and Meg Nugent of Radford, Va., an art and art history instructor and director of the Visual Design Studio for Education, Research, Exhibition, and Outreach (VDS4), have been recognized at local, district, and national levels by the American Advertising Federation (AAF).

Wood and Nugent used a green screen in Shultz Dining Hall to create principle magazine campaign images that were recognized as outstanding elements of advertising photography in local competition. The campaign and single ad entries were recognized for concept in the Greater San Fancisco competition.

Wood also won two Gold National Addys for his computer animation and photography work.

Nugent was recognized for two additional ad campaigns in the San Francisco show. Wood received his awards in Louisville, Ky., on June 9, at the annual AAF awards ceremony, along with fifth-year visual communications design student Michelle Via of Fredericksburg, Va., who won local judges’ choice award for a magazine cover design. Nugent's awards were presented in San Francisco. More of Nugent’s work is currently on exhibition at the Academy of Art University gallery at 79 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco.

Wood's next project, “The Body Lapse,” is a real-time series of animations of himself getting in shape that updates online daily at www.bodylapse.com. This time-lapse film starts mid-August and lasts four months. The College of Architecture and Urban Studies is sponsoring the work through a student-initiated research grant. Meg Nugent and Robert Schubert, associate dean for research, serve as advisors for the project.

Virginia Tech’s School of Architecture + Design is part of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies, one of the largest colleges of its type in the nation. The college is composed of three schools and the department of art and art history, part of the multi-college School of the Arts. The School of Architecture + Design includes programs in architecture, industrial design, interior design, and landscape architecture. The School of Public and International Affairs includes programs in urban affairs and planning, public administration and policy, and government and international affairs. The Myers-Lawson School of Construction, a joint school of the College of Architecture and Urban Studies and the College of Engineering, includes programs in building construction and construction management. The college enrolls more than 2,000 students offering 25 degrees taught by 160 faculty members.