Professor Chris Fox poses with some of his graphic design students on stage at the 2025 ADDY Awards.
February 27, 2025, had a little bit of a GroundHog Day feel.
“The venue, the students, and the judges were different [from 2024], but the results were nearly identical,” said Chris Fox, professor of graphic design at Calvin University.
‘For Professor Christopher Fox, Calvin University’ was heard coming out of the loud speakers of 20 Monroe Live in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan over and over again.
Fox’s students frequented the stage of the 2025 American Advertising Award Federation’s West Michigan ADDY Awards. The ADDYs are the preeminent advertising industry award designed to recognize the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising and design. In total, Calvin students took home 26 of the 44 available gold and silver ADDY awards in the West Michigan market. In 2024, Calvin took home 25.
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Competing against numerous colleges and universities in west Michigan, Calvin University students took home nearly 60% of all ADDY Awards.
“To have this level of success for a second straight year confirms that we didn’t put all of our eggs in one basket, but rather this is the expectation we have as a program,” said Fox.
Building a network
Fox says students receiving validation of their work from judges who are national ad agency principals and ad campaign developers builds their confidence and their portfolio. But Fox and his students agree that the greatest benefit is being in a room full of industry leaders and future employers.
“Our students are getting face time with a room full of people who are leaders in the fields they want to go into and who are looking for talent,” said Fox. “Industry professionals are seeing our students win dozens of ADDY awards and then our students are able to network with them for a while after the formal awards ceremony.”
“The program’s new reputation allowed me the opportunity to share my portfolio with an agency in town called Grey Matter Group, which eventually led to an internship,” said Noah Lammers, a senior graphic design major. “Companies like Grey Matter Group attend the ADDY awards every year, and they’re now willing to give Calvin students a chance.”
“There are so many well-known professionals in the room and the West Michigan AAF is very prominent,” said Lucy Iverson, a junior graphic design major. “This experience allows for many connections to be made that can hopefully help us find jobs in the future in such a competitive field.”
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In addition to winning nearly 60% of all of the gold and silver ADDYs, Calvin University students also took home two of the three available judge's choice awards.
Fostering Healthy Competition
Because the field is so competitive, Fox has designed Calvin’s graphic design program to prepare students for it. The students say the environment that’s been created fosters healthy competition.
“Fox does a great job of setting realistic expectations about what it takes for us to be successful creative professionals after graduation,” said Lammers. “It’s a very competitive field, so the classroom should feel competitive too. We’re always pushing each other to be better, and this has resulted in a lot of really solid work coming out of our program and consistent success at the ADDY awards.”
“We have created an environment where we happily take critiques and want to hear from one another on the work,” said Iverson. “The constant collaboration and community we have built has allowed for greater success in our projects.”
Forming Community
At the end of the day, what students say they appreciate most about the program is the community that’s formed across all grade levels.
“Beyond the intentional curriculum of Calvin’s graphic design program, I believe the community that is fostered between class levels contributes to our program’s continued success at the ADDY awards,” said Brynna Morren, a junior graphic design major who is also Fox’s TA this year. “From the start of their time at Calvin, underclassmen are able to connect with more experienced design students and are aware of the level of work being produced in our program.”
“This is as much a team as a softball team,” said Fox. And just as each member of a softball team serves a different role and has unique interests, Fox knows that each of his graphic design students requires customized training as well.
“The size of our program allows our students and faculty to have a close relationship and affords us the opportunity to individually customize the experience. Each student’s work is nothing alike, because their skill sets are widely divergent. So, through this formative education at Calvin, we are helping build our students into versions of themselves they choose to accept.”
