We’re still coming down from the high of One Club Creative Week in New York City! Last week, we were incredibly proud to be there celebrating with several of our copywriting and art direction students who were finalists in the Young Ones Award Show.

Copywriters Ruby Kenney, Morgan Conley and Art Directors Kelsie Edwards and Michael Regan shortlisted in 4 categories of The Young Ones for their PETA Campaign. The work they created was honored with merit awards in the categories of Experiential and Digital, Online & Mobile.

Copywriter Dylan Weir and Art Director Macy Gonazlez shortlisted in the Art Directors Club Awards in the category of “Craft in Writing” for their Winnebago Campaign.

And Copywriters Dylan Weir, Ambrose Cappuccio, and Bailey Maguire, and Art Director Julia Balling shortlisted in the Clio Student Awards for their social video campaign for Postpartum.net.

We are beyond proud of all of our students, and excited about the celebrated creative work made in our inaugural semester of book180 portfolio school. The amount of talented students we’ve seen in just our first six months has blown us away.

Advertising is a competitive industry, where creativity, innovation, and strategic thinking are crucial for success. Global student awards shows allow creative portfolio school students the chance to work on real briefs from renowned brands and have their work reviewed by industry professionals. Winning awards validates your creative capabilities and helps sets you apart from the competition. Participating in award shows exposes your work to industry leaders, creative directors, and potential employers that can lead to networking opportunities, mentorships, and even job offers. And it's simply a boost to your confidence! At book180, we offer an Award Show Class every Fall. It gives our students the space and guidance needed if they’re interested in pursuing some of the student award show briefs. 

But it’s also important for every junior creative to realize that you can have a fulfilling, creative career even if you never win an award. Awards aren’t everything. We see incredible portfolios all the time that are full of smart work that’s never won an award. And we’ve seen creatives in the industry become disappointed because after winning an award, they realize it’s not always a golden ticket to their dream job. So our advice: find internal validation and fulfillment from thinking of an interesting idea. In the end, it’s way more important than any external validation that an award can provide.

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