[373] MTSU students’ creativity takes top honors at Nashville advertising awards

MURFREESBORO — MTSU students' creativity earned them top honors from nearly 300 entries among seven Midstate universities at the recent 2016 Nashville Student ADDY Awards in what organizers called one of the nation's largest student competitions.

Twenty-three MTSU students received honors, including eight with multiple awards, courtesy of the American Advertising Federation Nashville.

MTSU students won top honors in 15 out of the competition's 26 categories as well as a Best of Show, two Judge's Choice and Rising Star awards.

Graphic design majors Alexa Games, Katie Stephens and Caitlin Parker teamed up to promote MTSU’s spring 2015 Graphic Design Senior Show and brought home the 2016 Best in Show ADDY and a Student Gold ADDY for their integrated brand identity campaign.

Games, an Antioch, Tennessee, resident, and Stephens, a resident of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, received their MTSU Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees last August. Parker, a Franklin, Tennessee, resident, is a senior at MTSU.

Aly Booker, a senior graphic design major from Morristown, Tennessee, earned a Judge’s Award for her campaign illustration “30 Ways to Be a Pet Peeve: The Cat’s Ultimate Guide to Owner Persuasion” plus a Gold ADDY for her poster “Poison.”

Stephens also earned a gold award in book design for “The Silent Type.”

Senior graphic design major Sarah Growden of Rockvale, Tennessee, brought home an armload of ADDY awards, including a Judge’s Choice and a Gold ADDY for her “Betula Tech Packaging” design, a second gold packaging award for her “High Tea” design and a Silver ADDY for her “Olfactory Scent Lab” outdoor and transit advertising campaign.

Jackee LaFever, a senior graphic design major from Christiana, Tennessee, earned a Rising Star Award and a Gold ADDY in photography for her black-and-white photo of New Orleans street musicians called “NOLA Band.” LaFever also received a Silver ADDY in the direct marketing competition for her “Music Unites Perpetual Calendar.”

Other multiple ADDY award winners this year include:

• Erica Belletete of Franklin, a senior graphic design major and Franklin, Tennessee, resident, who won three ADDYs for 2016 — a gold in packaging for “Wild Adventures” and silver awards in the poster and single illustration categories for “Futura Typography Poster” and “Blast Off - Kids' Space Camp,” respectively.
• Matt Roberts of Murfreesboro, a senior graphic design major, who won a gold ADDY for his “Yampa” website design and a silver award for animation and special effects for “Matt in a Minute.”

Additional MTSU student ADDY winners for 2016 and their categories were:

•       Anahi Miranda, a Murfreesboro senior, gold award for book design, “Disturbia.” 

•       Haley Overby, a Hendersonville, Tennessee, senior, gold award in direct marketing for “Hidden End.”

•       Damarea Watts, a Murfreesboro senior, gold award in direct marketing for “Education Through Music Promotional Calendar.”

•       Della Wheeler, a May 2015 MTSU grad from Chattanooga, gold award for “Iris” and Matthew Eason, a Brentwood senior, silver for “Achin' Bacon Heart Food Truck” integrated brand identity campaigns.

•       Rachel Carlson, a Knoxville senior, silver ADDY for magazine advertising for her “Honda Odyssey Campaign.”

•       Hannah Cole, a Smyrna, Tennessee, senior, silver for publication design, “Suttree Book Cover.”

•       Nashvillians Aubrey Griggs, a senior, and LaRon Stewart, a May 2015 graduate, silver poster campaign ADDYs for “HYPE Posters” and “The Elevate Academy,” respectively.

•       Amber Iacopelli, a Nashville senior, silver award for packaging, “Sippable Studies.”

•       LaKeva Lewis, a December 2015 MTSU grad from Nashville, silver ADDY for magazine advertising for “Pretty Grit.”

•       Aaron McMillian, a senior from Lewisburg, Tennessee, silver award for his “Ocean Conservancy Event Calendar App.”

•       Justin Morales, a December 2015 MTSU grad from Murfreesboro, silver award in the poster category for “Boston Terrier.”

•       Ariel Tyndell, a May 2015 MTSU grad from Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, silver ADDY for art direction for “Clever Chest.”

•       Danny Weddle Jr., a Nashville senior, silver ADDY in the poster category for “Crazy News Story.”