The first time was the charm for The Burr magazine.
For the first time in The Burr’s distinguished 27-year history, the publication entered the Student ADDY® Awards Program – and won. JMC learned last week that The Burr won a Student ADDY® in the “Publication Design, Cover” category for the Spring 2012 first issue’s front cover.
The ADDY® Awards Program, sponsored by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), is the creative industry’s largest competition and recognizes creative excellence in all forms of advertising media. The AAF Student ADDY Award is designed specially for college students.
The Burr was notified of its win by the Akron AAF chapter. The Burr team will learn whether the Spring 2012 cover won a silver or gold award at the AAF-Akron 2013 ADDY® awards reception on March 1st. If The Burr takes the gold, it will advance to the district’s competition and can ultimately advance to the national competition. The cover design’s photo illustration was a collaboration between The Burr’s 2012 art director Kelly Lipovich (‘12, visual journalism) and photo editor Thomas Song (senior, visual journalism). The cover visually represents the edition’s feature story, “Putting the Pieces Back,” which profiles a student’s journey through therapy and healing after years of suppressing an incident of childhood molestation. The photo illustration depicts an image that is both shattered and whole.
"It's an honor to be recognized by the ADDY Award community. I am glad our staff can be recognized for the talent and hard work they put in to the magazine, Tom Song said.
“It’s difficult to illustrate a personal story like this one,” said Jacqueline Marino, associate professor and faculty adviser to The Burr. “I was impressed by the creativity and emotional depth of the cover image. It is a work of art.”
The impetus for entering the ADDY® came from Katie Barnes (2010, Visual Communication Design, BFA), media specialist at Kent State’s Office of Student Media. “I saw the cover and knew it was spectacular. The photo illustration has a very strong concept and was well-executed,” said Barnes, who also underscores the importance of this award. “The ADDY® award is the pinnacle of awards. Winning an ADDY® is a huge achievement for the School, The Burr staff, and the magazine itself. It’s a great example of what our students can do to illustrate a story and to intrigue readers to pick up the magazine and read it.”
Although this is the Burr’s first ADDY® award, the magazine has won numerous national awards. In 2012 alone, it received awards for general excellence and feature article from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication and awards for non-fiction magazine article from the Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence Awards. It also won second place for “Best of Show” in the Feature magazine category from the Associate Collegiate Press.