Luke Williams has been awarded Top Student at the Western Australia 2017 AWARD School graduation ceremony.

He now joins the four other state finalists in the judging for the National AWARD School Competition and the chance to be flown to New York to meet David Droga in NYC. The national winner will be announced on Monday August 7 in Sydney.

Cameron Jones was ranked #2. Lachlan Banton, #3.

“For the judges, it came down to two main factors – and these are factors CDs take into account out in the real world. First, Luke’s book was more consistent overall across all the briefs. Second, he had really fresh, surprising takes on each of the briefs. Congratulations to Luke for winning top student at WA AWARD School 2017,” stated WA AWARD School head, Paul Coghlan, creative director, J.Walter Thompson.

l-r: Luke Williams, Cameron Jones, Lachlan Banton & Paul Coghlan

This year’s WA tutors included:

• David Donald, executive creative director, The Brand Agency
• Alida Henson, senior copywriter, Marketforce
• Rikki Burns, senior creative, Meerkats
• Wilora Keeley and Tim Newton, senior creatives, J.Walter Thompson.

Layla Firth has been awarded Top Student at the South Australia 2017 AWARD School graduation ceremony.

SA judge, Oliver Prenton, creative director of The Distillery commented, “Layla really impressed the judges and she ended up scoring very highly on quite a few briefs. There were a few stand out students this year but her enthusiasm and inquisitive nature mixed with a relentless pursuit to crack the brief ultimately led to some varied and mature thinking.”

SA judge, John McLaren, managing director of Blacksheep Advertising added, “Layla Firth delivered work that had clarity but also a sense of ‘fun and adventure’. Her work demonstrated a sound grasp of the fundamentals but also some imaginative and strategic thinking.”

l-r: Matt O’Grady & Layla Firth

Pippa Coles. Was ranked #w2.

The SA tutors included:

• Matt O’Grady, head of KWP!
• Corey Swaffer, creative director, KWP!
• Nick Brz, creative director, Nation Creative
• Michael Gagliardim, co-founder and creative, BAD Advertising
• Matt Minear, creative, BAD Advertising
• Andy Scott, creative director, Showpony
• Oliver Prenton, creative director, The Distillery
• John McLaren, managing director, Blacksheep Advertising
• Dave Lawson, creative director, WDM Advertising

Jackie Elliott has been awarded Top Student at the Queensland 2017 AWARD School graduation ceremony.

James Southey. Was ranked #2.

Queensland’s AWARD School heads were copywriters, Joshua Bartlett and Sam Boyd of Y&R Group Brisbane.

Bartlett commented, “A recurring theme among our QLD students is just how supportive of each other they are throughout the entire course, and this year was no exception. It shows you don’t have to be full of bravado and ego to produce killer ideas in this industry, which is indicative of the Brisbane market overall.”

This year’s Queensland tutors were:

• Brendan Greaney, executive creative director,Y&R Group
• Jim Mckeown, Y&R Group
• Andrew Thompson, executive creative director, Y&R Group
• Cristian Staal, creative director, Clemenger
• Erin Core, strategic planner, Clemenger
• Rob Hudson, managing director, Clemenger
• Mike Lange, senior sound designer, Cutting Edge
• Ryan Petie, executive creative director, PublicisQ
• Piet Human, Co-Founder and Creative, Brother & Co
• Kirsten Twigg, copywriter, Sapient Nitro
• Nancy Hartley, creative partner, Rumble)
• James Burchill, creative partner, Rumble
• Phil Nobay, executive creative director, Ogilvy

Cristian Staal noted, “While we can only have one winner in Brisbane, some of the students have already landed creative roles before the final placings. So I’d say it’s been a very successful year.”

This year’s five state winners from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane will have their books reviewed by the National Competition ‘Super Jury’, comprising leading creatives from around the world.

The NSW winners are here:

AWARD School: Top Student, Tom Lawrence, wins a chance to fly to NYC to meet David Droga

The Victorian winners are here:

AWARD School: Jesse Young wins a chance to fly to NY to meet David Droga