Ava Schicke, who graduated in December 2023 with a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design, received a National American Advertising Award (ADDY) for her senior capstone project, “Scrolling is the New Smoking.”
She also received Gold and Silver ADDY Awards at the Nebraska American Advertising Awards. She was surprised by her awards.
“I am super proud of my senior capstone, but never expected for it to receive this much recognition,” she said. “The whole thing feels a little surreal, but it’s such a fulfilling feeling to have something I put so much work and effort into to be appreciated by well-established designers. I also feel incredibly grateful for all the support and help I had from my professors. Jen Landis pushed me all semester to create even better work and is the reason my work was entered into the ADDY Awards in the first place. The ADDY Awards are just a great way to recognize the young designers in the industry.”
Assistant Professor of Practice in Graphic Design Jen Landis said halfway through her capstone project, she knew there was something special about Schicke’s work.
“Encouraging her to push further, I was confident it could win the Nebraska American Advertising Federation’s annual competition,” Landis said. “I also knew her designs would have a good chance of winning the regional competition and even the national competition—and they did. Seeing her face light up as she received her National American Advertising Award in Park City, Utah, was truly rewarding.”
Schicke said the awards were a good transition to her professional career.
“Winning these awards has been a great way to close the yearbook and end my college experience,” she said. “As I enter life after graduation, this has helped me to feel ready for the next step in my career journey. My younger self could not have even imagined being here, so it’s nice to know that hard work really does pay off.”
Schicke’s project, “Scrolling is the New Smoking,” is about the adverse effects that being on our phones has on our health, both physically and mentally.
“I conducted a vast amount of research, which included studies of real-life experimentation on phone usage and the human body,” she said. “I aimed to pick apart the most appealing stats with the goal of catching people’s attention to make them stop and look. I included a more friendly typography, as well as fun, eye-catching colors and graphics to make the information more digestible. Additionally, I wanted to aim to provide solutions for these adverse effects. Rather than simply stating the facts, I included how people could take this information and use it to live a happier, healthier life.”
Four additional graphic design students in the School of Art, Art History & Design took home ADDY Awards in the Nebraska American Advertising Awards (name, project, award):
• Keegan Towey, Cock Fight: Men vs. Masculinity, Gold ADDY Award (Towey won a District 9 Award and competed in the national ADDYs.)
• Joe Warren, Why We Need LIVE Music, Silver ADDY Award and Judges Choice Award
• Shaydan Bayless, Designing a Better Dollhouse, Gold ADDY Award
• Fatima Al-Jayashi, Alebrije Happy Meal, Gold ADDY Award
“The Nebraska American Advertising Awards are a fantastic opportunity for our UNL graphic design students to get noticed not just locally, but across the region and country,” Landis said. “Winning a gold or silver ADDY puts our students a step above in the design world—it's a significant achievement.”