On a national stage, in front of thousands of the top advertising creatives in the country, the spotlight focused on three UNI students. 

In what may be a first for UNI, students Muhammad Khan Niazi, Breyer Ellison and Reiter Patzner received a national Gold Student ADDY award — the highest honor at the National American Advertising Awards. It's the advertising industry’s largest competition and attracts more than 25,000 entries each year from both industry professionals and students.

Their project: a reimagining of UNI’s class registration system, including enhancements to site navigation, advising and even the university mascot TK as a website guide. 

To develop the new system, the team conducted user research, created user personas, wrote detailed context scenarios and designed a framework with comprehensive design elements to improve the customer experience.  

Before being eligible for national recognition, the students’ project advanced through multiple levels of competition, winning “Best of Show” at both the local and district levels. 

“No one expected that three guys from UNI would be standing on that stage, sharing it with the biggest brands and faces in the advertising industry,” said Niazi. “I just kept thinking: the only real limitations are the ones you set for yourself… if three boys from Iowa can make it to the national stage, then anyone with the right mindset can too. So dream big, do the work, don’t let your limitations or barriers tell you what you can’t do.”

The award-winning team brought together students from diverse academic backgrounds. Niazi graduated this spring with a degree in graphic design, Ellison is an incoming senior majoring in sales management and Patzner is set to graduate in December with a degree in business administration. 

Their work impressed not only the National American Advertising Federation but also their advisor, Matthew Wilson, professor of marketing and entrepreneurship in UNI’s Wilson College of Business. 

“I felt a deep sense of pride at the success these three students achieved,” Wilson said. “It was so rewarding to see a graphic design major work so effectively with two business majors to create something visually elegant while addressing key improvements for the end customer that drove a more successful user experience. The lengths they went to produce this prototype exceeded every expectation, and I’m so happy to see it get the recognition it deserves.”

Recent UNI graduate Lee Beauchamp also competed at the national level this year. Beauchamp was selected as one of AAF’s Most Promising Students, a distinction awarded to only 25 college students nationwide. They also earned Gold ADDY awards at both the local and district levels for their motion design animation, “What is a Motion Designer?”