Media University design students win 5 prizes at the ADC Talent Award 2023

06/23/2023

Design students and alumni Anan Mahmoud (Berlin), Fiona Bootz (Frankfurt), Justus Krüger (Berlin), Tamara Orlovsky (Berlin) and Olivia Steinhauer (Cologne) are among this year's winners of the highly prestigious ADC Talent Award. They received the prize for their semester and final projects. Congratulations!

The jury of the ADC Talent Awards selected, among others, the five works of the Media University students/alumni from a total of 598 entries. The Talent Award this year (according to the jury) showed that the next generation of advertisers has a sense for the big issues, craft and pretty smart ideas. The jury saw both profound and creatively challenging work that showed what Gen Z is all about, said Dora Osinde, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy and Jury Chairwoman ADC Talent Award in her press statement announcing this year's winners.

Here is an overview of the award-winning works of our students:

Anan Mahmoud (Berlin) - awarded in the category " Semester Theses" (bronze)

When Anan Mahmoud arrived in Germany as a student with a migration background, she received a brochure entitled "Welcome to Berlin", which contained information about registration, residence permits and health insurance, but it lacked one important factor: the emotional side of arriving in a foreign place and the associated emotional rollercoaster. To fill this gap, she wrote a handbook of emotions ("All you need to know upon arrival: The emotional guide") by visually documenting her journey from leaving her hometown to moving to Berlin.

Fiona Bootz (Frankfurt) - awarded in the category "Final Theses"

With her work, the augmented reality application "Funrun", Fiona Bootz developed a mobile game from the jump 'n' run genre that uses the real environment as the basis for the level design. Using concept mapping and user flows, she visualised the complexity of the system and used style tiles to concretise the subsequent user interface design. In addition, Fiona developed prototypes to try out and test: From the simplest models to the most sophisticated demonstrator, which can hardly be distinguished from the final product.

Justus Krüger (Berlin) - awarded in the category "Final Theses"

In his work "Nolle: Place Branding using the example of the Nollendorfkiez", Justus Krüger deals with place branding strategies. How can sustainable concepts be developed that are both accepted by the residents and radiate outwards? In order to investigate the functions and effects of place branding, the student asked himself two central questions: What benefits can place branding bring to communities and what characteristics does it need to work successfully? In the practical elaboration, Justus Krüger created a branding for his neighbourhood, the Nollendorfkiez.

Tamara Orlovsky (Berlin) - awarded in the category "Final Theses"

For her bachelor thesis "Hom(e)mage to the Berlin WG", Tamara Orlovsky investigated the question "What is WG cult?" and visited seven different WGs, took photographs, conducted interviews and a survey, and gathered material from a wide variety of research sources, which unites the final product. The design of this shows the extent to which communication design can form an approach to the complex subject matter and promote the creativity and diversity of housing models without passing judgement. Learn more about her project and her studies here

Olivia Steinhauer (Cologne) - awarded in the catagory "Final Theses"

How can a communication campaign in combination with an app draw attention to the dangers and consequences of mountain sports and promote safe and sustainable behaviour in mountain sports? This was the central question in Olivia Steinhauer's bachelor thesis. Both a cross-media communication campaign that generates attention and a comprehensive app called "Mounternity", which uses gamification elements to "playfully" pick up its users and offer individual and interactive solutions - Olivia developed both in her work "MOUNTERNITY".