Louis Devine, a Tasmanian-based creative with a background in design, marketing and technology, has been named AWARD School National Top Student for 2026.
The announcement was made at the 47th AWARD Awards, the industry’s annual celebration of the Asia-Pacific region’s best creative work and brightest new talent.
A student in the 2026 online program, Devine was selected ahead of close to 200 students across the region, taking home the AWARD School Ray Black Pencil.
State finalists recognised alongside Devine included Eva Schmitz (NSW), Tommy Hogan (VIC), Bailey Gatland (WA), Belinda Rabe (QLD) and Furkan Erbasi (SA).
National brief winners included Steve Hannah for outdoor/billboard, Eva Schmitz for audio, Tommy Hogan for social media and Phoebe Lim and Phanisa (Pm) Wangsuk for the team brief.
“Louis delivered a phenomenal body of work in a year where the standard across every state and brief winner was incredibly high,” said AWARD chair and Saatchi & Saatchi chief creative officer Mandie van der Merwe.
“The judges were blown away by his sharp, disciplined strategic thinking that consistently landed powerful creative ideas. Louis demonstrated the rare ability to take something completely familiar and flip it, with real confidence and restraint.
“As one judge noted, the simple indicator of great work is when it makes a CCO envious, which Louis’ portfolio certainly did. He deserves this recognition. Congratulations to all of 2026’s outstanding finalists too,” she added.
As top student, Devine is also the winner of the annual Young Creative Grant, which includes a fully funded scholarship to the Creative LIAisons program in Las Vegas over five days in September.
AWARD School is supported by Meta, the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), Commercial Radio & Audio (CRA) and B&T.
