Sixteen students graduate from 2020 AWARD School WA ; Oli Nicholson wins Gold Pencil
The Communications Council was delighted to be able to host the WA AWARD School 2020 Graduation Night in Perth, the only in-person AWARD School graduation event in Australia.
Virtual graduation ceremonies for NSW, VIC, QLD and SA were live-streamed on Facebook Live, a few hours prior. Oli Nicholson was announced as the 2020 WA state winner and Gold Pencil recipient.
Friday’s Studio, West Perth, was buzzing with 100 attendees from the creative industry, who came along to support the 16 graduating students:
• Ben Ashley
• James Beecroft
• Shannon Bergman
• Sophie Hannan
• Lewis Idle
• Devon Jackson
• Max Joyce
• Callum Macrae
• Jess Marshall
• Joseph Mooney
• Oli Nicholson
• Matthew Palmer
• Sidone Race
• Shari Sweeney
• Annemarie Verschoor
• Finnian Williamson
This year’s top students were Oli Nicholson – Gold Pencil; runners-up Jess Marshall & Lewis Idle (tied); and Callum Macrae.
Rikki Burns, outgoing WA AWARD School Head and CD at Meerkats, said: “The class of 2020 have certainly copped more than their fair share of dark clouds, but the graduation night was a huge success and more than made up for it. It was the first time we were all meeting up in person, but it felt like we had known each other for ages! I was so proud of the students this year – they showed immense resilience and really are a bunch of talented, hard-core thinkers”.
The success of AWARD School this year would not have been possible without the help of the following Perth creatives:
Application Judges: Neil Martin (The Brand Agency), Wilora Keeley (Wunderman Thompson) and Richard Berney (303MullenLowe)
Guest Q&A Lecturers: Chris Luu (Johannes Leonardo); Lachy Banton and Niall Stephen (The Brand Agency); Luke Williams (Meerkats); Chris Andrawes (Marketforce); Danielle Glenister (Curtin University)
Folio Reviews: Joe Hawkins (Wunderman Thompson); Matt Wilson (Meerkats); Pat Lennox (Horse and Hound Agency); Henry Billington (Gatecrasher); Dean Hunt (The Brand Agency); Dav Tabeshfar (&Partners); Liz Hammond (Rare); Richard Berney and Maya Halilovic (303MullenLowe)
Final Judges: Josh Edge (Meerkats); Andrew Tinning (AT Creative); Paul Coghlan (Marketforce); Danielle Glenister (Curtin University); Alida Henson (Alida Henson Creative)
A special thanks goes to the 2020 Tutors: Dav Tabeshfar (&Partners); Liz Hammond (Rare); Richard Berney and Maya Halilovic (303MullenLowe).
Click here to view the student folios from Perth and across the country.
