Ten students in Michigan State University’s Graphic Design program took home a total of five Gold, four Silver, and four Bronze American Advertising (ADDY) Awards at this year’s American Advertising Federation (AAF) Lansing Chapter ceremony. In the professional competition, MSU’s College of Arts & Letters Marketing and Communications Office received two Silver and two Bronze ADDY Awards.
“Being recognized in the student competition of the AAF Lansing Advertising Awards is a great achievement for our young designers,” said Chris Corneal, Associate Professor of Graphic Design, “as it indicates the creative work of our students within the Graphic Design program of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design is exceptional and further establishes that our students are well on their way to make an impact in the creative industries as they graduate and enter the profession.”
Recognizing all forms of advertising from all types of media, the American Advertising Awards allow students and professionals to showcase their advertising work and compete in different categories. This year’s AAF Lansing Chapter ADDY Awards were presented on Feb. 12.
Four MSU Graphic Design students earned Gold ADDY Awards for their work, including Evelyn Diamond, who took home two Gold ADDYs, and Sarah Fuller, Lexi Sesock, and Gabe Bustillo, who each received one Gold ADDY.
A Gold ADDY is the highest award an entry can receive within a category. Gold ADDY winners are automatically entered into the District 6 competition, which represents AAF clubs in Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois. Entries that receive Gold ADDYs at the district competition then move on to the National ADDY contest.
Evelyn Diamond
Diamond, a senior who will graduate in May 2025, received two Gold ADDY Awards for two different projects she submitted, Reimagining the LA28 Olympic Logo and MSU Social Media Campaign.
She created the Reimagining the LA28 Olympic Logo in Fall 2024 in her Experimental Design class taught by Zach Kaiser, Associate Professor of Graphic Design. This work highlights the idea of climate change through design.
“I redesigned the LA28 Olympic logo by changing the ‘A’ to show how climate change affects the games,” she said. “I used visuals like heat, storms, and environmental damage to help people see the challenges climate change creates for big events like the Olympics.”
Diamond created the MSU Social Media Campaign as a Graphic Design intern for the @michiganstateu social media accounts.
“At Michigan State, social media shows off the excitement, achievements, and stories of the Spartan community. It helps students, alumni, and fans feel connected to campus,” she said. “I create designs for the social media accounts with simple messages to share events, accomplishments, and fun everyday moments at MSU.”
Diamond utilizes large amounts of freeform brainstorming in her design process, sketching and doodling, and passing through several drafts before finalizing a design.
“Winning a Gold ADDY was an incredible honor! I’m grateful to have my work recognized alongside other professionals, coworkers, and students,” she said. “Shoutout to my University Communications team at MSU and all of my professors at MSU for their support, guidance, and encouragement throughout this journey. This award reflects the countless hours of brainstorming, designing, and refining, and I couldn’t have done it without my art community.”
Sarah Fuller
Fuller, a senior who will graduate in May 2025, receiveda Gold Addy for her Blue Bay Identity Design Project, an Integrated Brand Identity Campaign. She created the identity campaign in Spring 2024 in her Identity Design (GD466) course taught by Assistant Professor CaraMia Bertoni.
The branding project was based on a real business located in her hometown of Grosse Pointe, Michigan.
“I initially started with researching imagery that was related to boating and fishing,” Fuller said. “Taking inspiration from nautical flags and my hometown of Grosse Pointe, I wanted to create a design that was geometric, approachable, and preppy.”
Fuller sketched her logo and finalized the design digitally. The rest of the branding campaign came about as she went through each subsequent project — designing stationery, a brochure, packaging, take-out bags, and two magazine ads.
“I want to thank everyone who has helped provide feedback for this project and the Graphic Design Program for sponsoring my submission,” Fuller said. “The support means a lot!”
Lexi Sesock
Sesock, a junior who is planning to graduate in December 2025, received a Gold ADDY for her Global AI Index Rankings of 2024 poster, which visually communicates AI trends to those interested in how artificial intelligence is shaping the world. The poster was created in her Data Visualization Design (GD491) course taught by Rebecca Tegtmeyer, Associate Professor of Graphic Design.
“My inspiration came from how AI is rapidly evolving and becoming more integrated into everyday life,” Sesock said. “It’s a technology that is trending and slowly taking over various industries, and I wanted to explore that impact visually, highlighting which countries are leading in AI development and how the landscape is shifting.”
Sesock focused on balancing aesthetics with readability and experimented with different data visualization structures to present a large amount of data in a way that was both engaging and easy to interpret.
“Winning an ADDY for this project was an incredibly rewarding experience,” she said. “It’s exciting to see work rooted in data and design receive recognition, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to contribute to conversations surrounding AI advancements.”
Sesock also won a Bronze ADDY for her Philosophy of Aesthetics Book Design entry.
Gabe Bustillo
Bustillo, a junior who expects to graduate in Spring 2026, received a Gold ADDY for his Macbeth Poster that hecreated in his Graphic Design 2 (GD460) course taught by Associate Professor Chris Corneal.
The poster was designed for an imaginary showing of the play. Bustillo modeled it after Western-style “WANTED” posters and mixed in the themes of the play itself.
“The imagery of the blood-covered face and crown made of severed arms is supposed to be symbolic of the death caused directly and indirectly by Macbeth in the story,” Bustillo said.
Several days of thought and the creation of many different versions were made before Bustillo ended up with the final version.
“Winning an ADDY was such an unexpected honor for me,” he said. “Having real proof of the skills I’ve developed and the effort I’ve put into this process has been somewhat eye-opening and helped me be confident in what I do as part of this discipline.”
Student ADDY Awards
The following is a list of all the ADDY Awards received by Graphic Design students at MSU:
Gold
- Gabe Bustillo – Macbeth Poster
- Evelyn Diamond – Reimagining the LA28 Olympic Logo
- Evelyn Diamond – MSU Social Media Campaign
- Sarah Fuller – Blue Bay Identity Design
- Lexi Sesock – Global AI Index Rankings of 2024 Poster
Silver
- Victoria Herceg – Wizard of Oz Book Cover
- Victoria Herceg – Edgar Allan Poe Collection Book Design
- McKenna Long – Landscape of Global Homelessness Poster
- Thanh Tran – Chosen Avocado Packaging
Bronze
- Hope Bennethum – American Indian Genealogical Society Logo
- Lexi Sesock – Philosophy of Aesthetics Book Design
- Ella Sivak – White Barn Identity Design
- Nathan Vazquez – Vaquero Taqueria Street Sauce Identity Design
Professional ADDY Awards
The following is a list of all the ADDY Awards received by MSU’s College of Arts & Letters Marketing and Communications Office:
Silver
- Film/Video/Sound Branded Content, More Than :60 Seconds – MSU Expert: Art & Athletics
- Photography, Color – Megan Dean – Food & Community
Bronze
- Branded Content & Entertainment Campaign – Ask the Expert: Faculty Research
- Film/Video/Sound Branded Content, More Than :60 Seconds – MSU Expert: Food & Community
By Austin Curtis
