By: Jabria Roscoe
On July 9, several students in UM’s advertising program won “Pencils” at the Design and Art Direction (D&AD) New Blood Awards. They are the first students in the program’s history to receive this award.
“These awards are a credit to their hard work and creativity,” said Andrew Goldstein, lecturer for the advertising program. “It’s gratifying to see them succeed and it’s nice for them to get the recognition they deserve.”
The students who participated in the awards were a part of the Advanced Advertising Creative Development course (STC 492) offered here at UM. Goldstein and Sarai Nuñez, assistant professor of professional practice, co-teach the course and serve as creative directors over the student projects.
“It’s been exciting to see the students win,” said Nuñez. “It’s a highly regarded global show, and that means the competition level is as high as it gets.”
The D&AD New Blood Awards is an annual global competition that strives to recognize creative college students and recent graduates that have a passion for advertising. D&AD receives more than 3000 entries across 60 countries. Only 213 projects were chosen to receive a Pencil for their work.
“We finished working right before everything shut down,” said Nuñez. “One team even had to rework their whole production plan, but they kept after it and still received an award.”
The students had to compete in the midst of a global pandemic, but they did not let their circumstances slow them down. “It’s testament to their perseverance,” said Goldstein. “It’s about having a great idea but also having the drive to see it through.”
Nuñez says the D&AD awards are evidence of how important the process is in advertising. “This course is all about the process and the award is just proof that the process works,” Nuñez said.
Now that history has been made, Nuñez and Goldstein are optimistic for the future. “I’m very confident that the work is going to get even better,” Nuñez said.
Both professors believe that the awards are great, but it’s not everything.
“If you focus on making great work the awards will follow,” said Goldstein. “We’re excited to restart the process with new students and new briefs.”
Below is the list of UM winners:
Wood Pencil for BodyType: Lauren Maingot, Rachel Rader, and Sophie Robbins
Graphite Pencil for Do More with Audible: Andi Simon, Timothy Donohue, and Sophie Robbins
Visit https://www.dandad.org/en/d-ad-new-blood-awards/ to learn more about this award.
