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Adobe Systems Incorporated has announced the winners of the fifth annual Adobe Design Achievement Awards, a programme established to honour talented student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers and computer artists from the world’s top design, film and broadcast schools. Contestants from Australia and New Zealand were among more than 1500 students who utilised the latest Adobe products to produce entries for the annual competition.

"The Adobe Design Achievement Awards recognizes the talents of future creative professionals from around the world," says Melissa Dyrdahl, senior vice president of corporate marketing and communications at Adobe. "As we celebrate the programme’s fifth year, this competition continues to serve as a powerful way to recognise a new generation of creative professionals, showcase remarkable student work, and kick start some promising young careers."

In a ceremony held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, students were recognised for their achievements in nine categories:

-- In the Animation category, the winner was Yibi Hu from Kingston University in London, and finalists were Sean Jimenez from California Institute of the Arts in Valencia, California and Megan Kelly from San Jose State University in San Jose, California.

-- In the Broadcast Design category, the winner was Andreas Gaschka from Fachhochschule Mainz University of Applied Sciences in Mainz, Germany, and finalists were Eric Edwards from Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia and Will Johnson also from Savannah College of Art and Design.

-- In the Digital Illustration category, the winner was Klaas Neumann from Hochschule für Angewandte Wissenschaften in Hamburg Germany, and finalists were Elliot Lim from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California and Rebecca Shostak from the University of California, Los Angeles.

-- In the Digital Photography category, the winner was Micah Ganske from Yale School of Art in New Haven, Connecticut and finalists were Elizabeth Buchta from California Institute of the Arts and David Field from Savannah College of Art and Design.

-- In the Environmental Graphics category, the winner was Hildegard Brinkel from Hochschule Anhalt (FH) - Anhalt University of Applied Science in Bernberg, Germany, and finalists were Jens Kretschmer from Universität Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany, and Mary Prendergast from University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana.

-- In the Interactive Design category, the winner was Jeff Krichmar from Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida and the finalist was Elsa Chaves, also from Ringling School of Art and Design.

-- In the Print category, the winner was Roxane Zargham from the University of California, Los Angeles, and finalists were Emily Lessard from Yale School of Art and Marius Lohmann from Fachhochschule Aachen in Aachen, Germany.

-- In the Self Expression category, the winner was Chean Wei Law from Ringling School of Art and Design, and finalists were Emory Allen from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Crista Hirzel from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.

-- In the Time-Based Media category, the winner was Sophie Clements from Royal College of Art in London, and finalists were Christoph Behm from Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Braunschweig, Germany and Yongjin Park from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

As part of the awards programme, Adobe organised a day of tours through New York’s top studios. Twelve studios opened their doors to allow students to meet with the principals and see, first hand, how a professional studio operates. The studios include C&G Partners LLC, GQ Magazine, karlssonwilker, Inc., MTV Networks Creative Services, Number Seventeen, O, The Oprah Magazine, Ogilvy & Mather Brand Integration Group, PAPER Magazine, Pentagram, R/GA, Two Twelve Associates and VH-1.

Winners were selected based on overall impact, design execution and technical capabilities. Finalists received a trip to New York to participate in the awards event and to showcase their work. First place entries received US$5000 and a selection of Adobe products.

Judges for this year’s awards included: Matthew Richmond from The Chopping Block Inc., Gail Anderson from SpotCo, Kathy Fredrickson from Studio Blue, Timothy Mason from WXIA-TV, Dava Guthmiller from Noise 13, and Frank Gladstone from IDT Entertainment.

The winning entries can be viewed at www.adobe.com/education/winners