New Zealand’s top AWARD School graduates announced; Jemma Titheridge named top student

Jemma Titheridge (centre) has been named New Zealand’s top AWARD School student at a graduation ceremony at Little Easy, Auckland on 4 November.

Second place was awarded to Robert Chapman (right), with Amy-Rose Lynch (left) taking third place.

For the first time, a Best of Show was also awarded, won by Amy-Rose Lynch for her “Donate a Fish” fundraising campaign for Coastguard New Zealand.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, which showcased the best pieces of work from the 2015 class of 10, AWARD School head, Brett Colliver, art director, Colenso BBDO says: “I was blown away by some of this year’s ideas, so congratulations to all of our students. It was great to see that the graduates were able to come up with ideas across a variety of mediums – from very clever print ads for Samsung, to super smart integrated ideas for Coastguard New Zealand. The next challenge for the guys will be getting into an agency, but I have no doubt they’re ready for it.

“I’d like to thank this year’s tutors, Zac Lancaster (art director, DDB Group), Freddie Coltart (senior creative, FCB), and Matt Williams (senior copywriter, FCB), who have given up their time generously to mentor our students through the 12 week program. It’s a big commitment and we are extremely grateful.

“And a huge thank you also has to go to all of the lecturers and judges for their contributions. There are too many names to mention here, but the students and I are very grateful.”

The AWARD School program has now been running for more than 30 years; the 2015 graduates follow in the footsteps of many of today’s creative leaders, including past students: David Droga, founder and creative chairman of Droga5, and Matt Eastwood, worldwide chief creative officer at JWT, New York, Craig Davis, ex-chairman of AWARD and co-chairman and chief creative officer of Publicis Mojo.