Graphic design that impresses industry experts: Calvin students dominate ADDY Awards
Calvin University students took home 33 of the 55 ADDYs awarded.
Larissa Bol ’27 heard her name called four times at the 2026 West Michigan ADDY Awards. One of her projects earned a silver ADDY. Her other project took home gold in two different categories and received the night’s top honor: “Best in Show.”
“I was super shocked and incredibly grateful to be recognized at such a large-scale event with professionals and other colleges there,” said Bol, a graphic design major and business minor from Holland, Michigan.
Bol was one of 19 Calvin students who took home hardware at the ADDY Awards, which were held on February 27, 2026, at the JW Marriott in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan. In total, Calvin students, competing against students from other colleges and universities in the greater West Michigan area, took home 33 of the 55 ADDYs.
Larissa Bol (left) receiving an ADDY Award at the 2026 West Michigan ADDYs.
Global industry experts impressed
The judges, Carlos Flores, Paige Bauman, and Jason Levkulich, are creative directors from New York, Houston, and Nashville, who have experience working with global brands like Nike, Apple, Vogue, McDonald’s, and Samsung. They each were also able to bestow one “judge’s choice award,” and two of the three picked Calvin produced projects.
“This speaks to our students’ quality of work,” said Fox. “These are industry professionals who have prestigious careers. They’re national creatives. They’ve earned the right through their experience to have an opinion on these matters.”
While the judges each year come from across the country and don’t know about the schools they’re judging, Calvin is beginning to develop a reputation. For the third straight year, Calvin students have taken home more than half of the available awards. The fruit of their efforts is yet again sprouting forth in season, but it’s what’s below the surface that’s been foundational to their consistent success.
Classroom learning leads to award-winning design
Bol says the foundational skills learned early on in the program—not just the technical skills, but more importantly developing the courage to critique and vulnerability to be critiqued, is what sets Calvin students apart.
“These skills we learn in our initial graphic design classes, including the fostering of a critiquing culture is still really important in every graphic design class. You have to be able to push other people’s work and then be pushed yourself,” said Bol. “You have to learn how to critique in groups and not just say things like, ‘oh, I find that work really interesting’ or ‘I like how you did that,’ but actually saying ‘Ok, is this idea any good?’ Honest feedback from your peers and faculty is really what helps push your ideas to not be mediocre.”
A Commitment to Excellence
It's those skills that propelled Bol’s work to excellence. Fox says her work on an integrated branding campaign for the Elixir Beverage Company was “very believable” and “you can see it on a shelf.”
Bol's Elixir Beverage Co. project took home "Best in Show."
“It looked very much like it could exist and not so much like a student had done it. Her project is reflective of a tenacious amount of work. It’s heavily illustrative,” said Fox. “She drew the hand lettering for the logo and logo type. She drew these illustrations for the packaging cells for the cans. She’s developed a sophisticated color palette. She named the flavors of this hypothetical brand so that they are eclectic and interesting. And then she photographed it well and made her mock-ups and did quick animations too. It just touched all the points.”
Fox said Bol’s work was one of several from Calvin that exceeded the expectations of student-produced work. And now Bol’s project and the others that earned gold will advance to the district competition later this month.
A solid foundation for success
While it’s unclear how successful those projects will be at the next phase, it’s clear that the students have a solid foundation as they look ahead to their careers.
“When I run into faculty from other schools at the ADDYs each year they are constantly asking ‘how do you have this much buy-in from the students?’ said Fox, who said Calvin students accounted for the largest contingent of any agency or school at the event.
“My answer is—that’s Jesus. The idea that we’re serving each other and the environment we’ve established is a genuine community where we care about each other as people—I think that’s the difference,” said Fox. “Whether they’re putting work in an exhibition or critiquing a logo or they’re cleaning up the Design Hub space, so we don’t have to work in a mess, you have a fellowship of creatives that care deeply about each other. If we’re looking at the schools we’re competing with, they don’t necessarily have programs, they have classes. We’ve built a program.”
