Students and faculty from the School of Visual Arts in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies at Virginia Tech won seven ADDY awards in the American Advertising Federation’s recent Western Virginia awards competition.

Their designs, ranging from beer labels to mobile apps created for regional and national clients, now advance to the next round in the world’s largest advertising competition, which draws more than 40,000 entries annually.

ADDY awards recognize the best in creativity, originality, and strategy in areas ranging from logo and publication design to videos, websites, consumer apps, and animation. Out of 365 entries, AAF judges awarded 90 gold and silver awards in over 50 categories to students and professionals throughout the Roanoke Valley, New River Valley, and Lynchburg.

Winners now head to the regional ADDYs – encompassing Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina – April 8 in Raleigh, North Carolina, to find out if they’ll move on to the national finals.

Meaghan Dee's SECAC materials.

Meagan Dee's award-winning materials for the SECAC Conference.
Meaghan Dee's award-winning materials for the 2016 SECAC Art Educator Conference.

Professional/Faculty Awards

Meaghan Dee, assistant professor and chair of visual communication design, earned two ADDYs, including a gold ADDY for a laser-cut holiday card and chocolate packaging set that garnered a 2017 Graphic Design USA American Package Design Award earlier this year.

Dee also won a silver ADDY for the 2016 SECAC Art Educator Conference branding and promotional materials, which included the conference program, notebook, mobile app visuals, name badges, signage, and tote bags.

Patrick Finley, assistant professor of graphic design, won a silver ADDY for app design with FitHub, a fitness app that links to all wearable fitness devices and encourages users to track fitness-based statistics and compete against friends in challenges. FitHub also earned the Google Developer “Best of Show” Award in the fitness category and has over 50,000 downloads to date.

FourDesign studio

Students in FourDesign studio.
Students at SOVA's student-run design studio, FourDesign, earned three ADDY awards for client projects.

Student Awards

FourDesign, a student-run design studio that creates branding and marketing materials for local, regional, and national clients, earned three silver ADDYs. Led by Assistant Professor of Practice Jeff Joiner, FourDesign connects top-notch student talent with businesses and organizations in need of professional, affordable, strategy-based branding and marketing materials.

The Peachicot Blonde Ale beer label for River Company Brewery’s most popular ale, designed and illustrated by 2015 visual communication design graduates Sarah Goforth and Becca Grogan, earned a silver ADDY. Both Goforth and Grogan now work as graphic designers in Richmond, Virginia.

Can design
The Peachicot Blonde Ale label designed for River Company Brewery by SOVA students was one of seven ADDY award-winning projects from the school.

Logo designs for Virginia Cyber Range and Molecular Sciences Software Institute by junior visual communication design major Charlotte DeWolfe, of Vienna, Virginia, each earned silver ADDYs.

The Park Place app, which helps people find parking in Blacksburg and on the Virginia Tech campus using real-time interactive maps and data, garnered a silver ADDY for students JT Beach, of Quinton, Virginia; Justin Bull, of Herndon, Virginia; Kathryne Cashwell, of Virginia Beach. Virginia; and Katherine Fairbanks. of Fairfax Station, Virginia. Virginia Tech engineering and computer science students helped design the app in Dee’s Advanced Visual Communication Design class in fall 2016.

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