Showcasing student creativity and visual storytelling with the Adobe Digital Edge Awards
We believe creation is the ultimate expression of learning. When students can combine their creativity with digital literacy, the result is powerful. Exploring a subject — no matter what that subject is — and using a medium they’re passionate about, creates an emotional investment and engagement that’s hard to match, and helps the next generation gain the skills and experiences they need to shape the world around them.
That is why at Adobe, we’re passionate about encouraging educators to incorporate digital literacy into their curriculum, helping to prepare students for their future workplaces, express their ideas in more creative ways, and improve the quality of their work. In the past three years, professionals with creative skills saw up to 2-3x higher salary increases and greater career trajectory across varied industries than those who did not cite these skills.
In 2019, we launched The Digital Edge Awards in the UK to showcase how students are using creativity to bring their learning to life. Since its launch, we’ve had more than 1,000 entries from UK university students studying subjects such as engineering, marketing, sciences, and environmental management. It has been remarkable to see how they’re building digital skill sets that will position them as incredible storytellers in their future careers and see firsthand the work their academic leaders are doing to ensure new graduates enter the workforce proficient in digital literacy.
Celebrating The Storytellers
This year, The Digital Edge Awards competition expanded to the US, celebrating the inspirational ways in which university students across all academic disciplines bring their work to life using their creativity and digital literacy skills with Adobe Creative Cloud. We saw over 1,400 submissions from 498 US and 134 UK institutions across categories of Art & Design, Business, STEM/Engineering, Humanities/Social Sciences & Health.
It is remarkable to see how students are building digital skill sets that will position them as incredible storytellers in their future careers.
US winners
Art & Design — winner
Ashok S. T. & Nabhya P., California College of Arts
View entry: Synth | A generative music streaming platform
Ashok and Nabhya's project is a generative music streaming platform. The team focused on incorporating visual design to amplify the impact of their project.
Business — winner
Crizio S., Western Michigan University
View entry: LifeDog Watch
Crizio's assignment involved developing an ad campaign for a patented and unconventional product idea. Using Adobe Illustrator, Crizio brought the product and ad campaign to life, transforming the original patent illustration into a professional rendering of a smartwatch for dogs.
Social Science — category winner
Keshawna F., Winston-Salem State University (Creative Campus)
View entry: Role of a step parent
Health — category winner
Lauren C., University of California, Berkeley
View entry: Bayview Hunters Point: A Case Study on Air Pollution
Engineering — category winner
Nithisha Nantha K., University of Michigan
View entry: Pattern
UK Winners
Art & Design — winner
Sammy R., Loughborough University
View entry: ATRIX.
Sammy's project addresses the under-representation of women in esports through community tournaments. Using After Effects, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Pro, Sammy created a summary video and a detailed PDF document showcasing industry statistics, campaign narrative, and visual identity.
Business – winner
Partheepan J., Teesside University (Creative Campus)
View entry: DreamToPlay
Partheepan created a digital marketing project for Teesside University Football Academy. His The "DreamToPlay Contest" encouraged student participation with social media voting and incentives.
STEM – category winner
Alfie M., Imperial College London
View entry: Breath
Humanities — category winner
Katarzyna K., University of the West of England (Creative Campus FY23)
View entry: Remote Sensing ArcGIS Atlas