Last weekend, students from Southern Nazarene University won six awards at the American Advertising Federation (AAF) competition in Oklahoma. The AAF hosts this annual event to showcase the best work from companies and students, facilitating networking opportunities. Each year, SNU submits the most outstanding pieces created by its graphic design students over the past twelve months.
This year marked the highest post-COVID student submission rate, with over 1,000 entries. Four SNU students received awards, earning a total of six medals: Anne Slaughter, Hannah Reyes, Alannah Doherty, and Katherine Baker.
Slaughter won a gold medal for her illustrated campaign, “Tidal Roots,” which featured four images. Each illustration depicted a young woman whose hair integrated famous locations, including a beach and a Chinese city. She also received a silver medal for her ad campaign, It Can Happen to Anyone, designed to raise awareness about human trafficking. This campaign included a bus stop advertisement featuring grayscale images of two individuals with their faces distorted into barcode-like strips. Within the strips, a yellow phrase faded in and out, reinforcing the message, “It can happen to anyone”.
Reyes won a silver medal for her branding work for “Laugh Tank Improv Theatre,” a company she conceptualized. Her integrated advertising campaign included t-shirt designs, a logo, outdoor signage, and additional branding materials.
Doherty received a silver medal for her redesigned book cover for the classic 20,000 “Leagues Under the Sea.” The design, which covered the front, back, and inside flaps, featured a deep blue background with striking orange tentacles curling around the book’s title.
Baker won a silver medal for her branding work on “SushiMeow,” a fictional company selling cat toys shaped like sushi. The branding incorporated a color palette of salmon red, pink, navy, and sky blue, with design elements inspired by Chinese and Japanese art and architecture. The campaign included logos, a canvas bag, envelopes, stationery, and email marketing materials. Baker also won a silver medal for “Vivid Identity,” a digital portrait created in Photoshop. The piece used expressive brushstrokes to create movement and vibrant colors to convey a sense of life and energy.
Overall, the event was a success. Many students had the opportunity to network with professionals and share their experiences with family members. By next year, some of SNU’s senior graphic designers may be attending the event not as students, but as industry professionals.
Photo by: Katherine Baker