Congratulations to Lone Star College-Kingwood Graphic Design-Visual Communications students for taking top awards at the 2023 AAF Conference.
For the second year in a row, students from Kingwood were members of the first, second and third place teams.
The 42nd annual American Advertising Federation (AAF) of Houston’s Student Conference and Competition was held earlier last month. It is a two-day, nationally recognized advertising competition that also provides professional sessions to help students launch a career in the industry. The students created a comprehensive marketing, advertising, and public relations campaign for the sponsoring brands.
Zoila Donneys is the Professor of the Graphic Design program and Advisor of the Graphic Design Club. She says, “I am very proud of our students’ contributions and how they represented our LSC-Kingwood college at this event. All students who participated from LSC-Kingwood demonstrated that they are not only ready for the higher demands of careers in graphic design but that the LSC-Kingwood programs are complete and up-to-date programs that are competitive with four-year colleges and universities in Texas and neighboring states.”
Students from LSC-Kingwood joined students from Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas State University-San Marcos, University of Houston, Texas A&M University, Sam Houston State University, University of Houston Downtown, and Sowela Technical College to compete.
Students Duy Pham and Timothy Lam were on first-place teams; Maggie Callahan and Amber Leach earned second place recognition, and Lucas Pettingill, Nuvi Xon, Ruben Canales, and Nicole Jacobs earned third place awards from AAF-Houston.
“The AAF Competition was a fantastic experience,” Maggie Callahan shared. “I immensely enjoyed hearing from professionals about the workforce as well as being immersed in how agencies function in the real world.”
Timothy Lam said, “The AAF competition wasn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced before, but I’m glad I participated. It gave me perspective on what a professional setting would look like for my future and now I can’t wait for it.”
Professor Pam Clarke said the AAF competition is a great opportunity for students. “They gain experience developing a campaign for a real product and real client; they interact with university students in a professional setting, are able to measure their skills against 4-year students, and gain insight to the working world of marketing design.”
"It was not perfect, but it was never meant to be,” Duy Pham recounted. “The competition perfectly captured the chaotic essence of teamwork and communication with others in different fields of expertise. Filled with emotions, either positive or negative, either regret or already nostalgic happiness, it is nonetheless as a competition, very fun to participate in and learn from."
Other LSC-Kingwood students who participated were Xavier Burgess, Lyka Eunice Ronquillo, Paola Vasquez, Alizehl Plamo, and Angelena Phavorachit.
For more information on the Graphic Design and Visual Communications programs at LSC-Kingwood, click here.
Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Mario K. Castillo, J.D. serves as Chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area. LSC has been named a 2023 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education and recognized by Fortune Magazine and Great Place To Work® as one of this year’s Best Workplaces in Texas™. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit www.lonestar.edu.
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