Jackie Elliott (main photo) has been awarded Top Student award at the Queensland 2017 AWARD School graduation ceremony, which took place at The Gunshop Cafe in Brisbane on Tuesday night.
Elliott is now in the running for Top Student at the National AWARD School Competition, with the chance to win a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet David Droga in NYC. The national winner will be announced on Monday 7 August in Sydney.
Second place was awarded to James Southey.
Before a crowd of industry professionals and supporters, QLD AWARD School Heads Joshua Bartlett and Sam Boyd of Y&R Group Brisbane congratulated the class of 14 graduates on completing the 12 week intensive course.
Commenting on the calibre of this year’s students, Bartlett said: “A recurring theme among our QLD students is just how supportive of each other they are throughout the entire course, and this year was no exception. It shows you don’t have to be full of bravado and ego to produce killer ideas in this industry, which is indicative of the Brisbane market overall.”
Boyd adding: “We are very proud of this year’s crop of advertislings and wish them all the best in their future endeavours.”
Cristian Staal, creative director of Clemenger Brisbane and a judge on this year’s judging panel, noted: “Since I’ve been involved with Brisbane Award School there is normally maybe three clear contenders with one to two standouts. This year, we had seriously talented judges in the room arguing over five books on the winners table.”
“While we can only have one winner in Brisbane, some of the students have already landed creative roles before the final placings. So I’d say it’s been a very successful year.”
This year’s five state winners from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane will have their books reviewed by the National Competition ‘Super Jury’, comprising leading creatives from around the world.
The National Competition coincides with the 30th anniversary of a teenage David Droga, Founder and Creative Chairman of renowned agency Droga5, winning Top Student at AWARD School in 1987.
To mark the occasion, AWARD School will fly the national winner to NYC to meet David Droga and to compare their winning portfolios from 1987 and 2017.
Dates for all graduation ceremonies are as follows:
QLD – Wednesday 19 July
NSW – Tuesday 25 July
VIC – Wednesday 26 July
SA – Thursday 27 July
WA – Friday 28 July
National Announcement (in Sydney) – Monday 7 August
