Honolulu CC students win national advertising awards

Honolulu Community College communication arts students Linda Inamasu and Alex Kawamoto were honored at the American Advertising Federation’s 2014 National American Advertising Awards held in Boca Raton, Florida on May 31. The only students from Hawaiʻi, Kawamoto won ADDY gold for his design brochure for a children’s museum in Philadelphia called Please Touch and Inamasu brought home the silver for her Design Museum Boston coffee table book.

The American Advertising Awards, formerly the ADDYs, is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting more than 40,000 entries every year in local competitions.

Inamasu won gold and Kawamoto received silver in the student category at the Pele Awards, the Hawaiʻi district competition. Their entries were then entered into the national student category of the American Advertising Awards.

• Read about Inamasu and Kawamoto’s Pele awards win

“In Florida we were told that only a handful of student entries ever make it to the national awards, and fewer professional firms from Hawaiʻi ever receive national recognition. It was an extreme honor to represent Hawaiʻi,” says Inamasu.

“I was in disbelief when they called my name. I kept waiting for them to announce Linda’s name,” says Kawamoto. “I never imagined that I would come home as a gold winner.”

Inamasu and Kawamoto are currently interning at Core Group One, a local marketing strategy and creative firm. Kawamoto will continue his internship at Core Group One and Inamasu plans to graduate from the communication arts program in spring of 2015.

—By Billie Lueder