Advertising Aces: RCC Students Score Big at The Inland Empire ADDY Awards

On Friday, March 10th, 2023, the Inland Empire American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards ceremony was held at the historical Mission Inn in Riverside, California. This event is an annual celebration of the best creative minds in advertising, design, and marketing across the Inland Empire area.

We are excited to announce that several students from Riverside City College (RCC) were among the winners at this year's event. RCC's Applied Digital Media and Printing students competed against multiple colleges and universities in the area, and RCC students came home with a bronze or silver ADDY Award.

Iris Meriat, a student from RCC's Applied Digital Media program, won a bronze award in the Book Cover category. This category recognizes excellence in designing book covers. Meriat's creative design caught the attention of the judges, and she was awarded the prestigious bronze ADDY award. Meriat shared,

“It was an honor to be among my fellow peers and it was incredible to witness so many women participate and win awards. I am eternally grateful to all the professors who make up the ADM Department at RCC. Everything I know is due to them, literally.”

Another RCC student, Ruby Saavedra, won a bronze award in the Integrated Advertising Campaign - Consumer Campaign category. This award recognizes outstanding advertising campaigns that are designed to target consumers in a specific demographic or market. Saavedra's campaign showcased her creativity and strategic thinking, leading to her being recognized by the judges with a bronze ADDY award.

Saavedra shared,

“I'm forever grateful for all that I have learned from my design professors in the ADM department and past teachers. After trying my best to apply everything I am taught to my designs, it has paid off with an awesome ADDY award! It felt so professional to attend the AAF Student Gala, and I want to use this feeling to drive me to keep designing until I can be like the decades experienced designers that hosted. My award proves to future clients or employers that I have the potential to produce great designs, but it also gives me the confidence that I can truly use my skills to help bring designs to life.”

Danna Perdomo, another student from RCC's Applied Digital Media program, won a bronze award in the Integrated Brand Identity Campaign category. This award recognizes excellence in creating branding campaigns that effectively communicate a company's brand identity and values. Perdomo's innovative branding campaign was deemed worthy of a bronze ADDY award.

Malaysia Beckon, a student in RCC's Applied Digital Media program, won a bronze award in the Illustration category. Beckon's unique and creative illustration skills earned her a bronze ADDY award. Beckon shared,

“I’m very proud to have been given the opportunity to participate in the ADDY Awards. Winning an award for my work was very exciting! My work was the one of a girl wearing an orange hat. My work was actually an assignment for Professor Scullin’s Adobe Illustrator class. He wanted us to do a portrait of someone that we know so I decided to do one of my best friends. I decided to have some fun with it by drawing her as one of her favorite anime characters, which is Ace from One Piece. I used Adobe Illustrator to make it but sketched it out first using Procreate, a popular Apple drawing program.”

Finally, Yamilet Brito, a student in RCC's Applied Digital Media program, won a silver award in the Illustration category. Her outstanding illustrations were recognized by the judges, and she was awarded the silver ADDY award.

When inquired about his thoughts on students winning awards, Patrick Scullin, who is an Associate Professor at ADM and the Director of Printing Graphics Programs, expressed his pride, stating that he is “immensely proud of his students.”

He highlighted that,

“All of them managed to win an award even while competing with students from larger universities, which is a testament to their hard work and talent”.

We are extremely proud of all our RCC students who participated in the Inland Empire American Advertising Federation ADDY Awards. Their creativity, hard work, and dedication have brought recognition to themselves and RCC. We believe that this is only the beginning of their creative careers, and we cannot wait to see what they will achieve in the future.