Trevecca Student Wins Gold at Addy Awards for Mobile App Design

Braeden Davis, an IT major at Trevecca, recently earned a Gold ADDY Award in the American Advertising Federation’s local competition for his Carmike mobile app design.

Competing in the student division against entrants throughout the Middle Tennessee market, Davis was recognized at a level reserved for the highest level of creative excellence. His project began as an assignment in a UX design class. While the course is a requirement in his degree program, Davis’s career focus is in software development, and he never imagined that the assignment would lead him to an award-winning project.

“I had no experience designing apps,” he said. “I was just a student taking a class I had to take.”

It was a passion for movies and his familiarity with movie apps that inspired Davis to undertake the redesign as a class assignment. Students were allowed to choose their own projects, and Davis immediately saw an opportunity to improve the AMC app, something he had used frequently. “I’m a very big fan of movies in general,” he said. His redesigned app is aimed to enhance the user experience with more interactive features.

After presenting his work, Braeden was encouraged by his course instructor, assistant professor Cornelius Denson, to submit his app to the ADDY Awards. Although initially hesitant, Braeden decided to take the chance. “I didn’t really spend much time refining it,” he said. “But I had nothing to lose by submitting it.” He submitted his app under the category of interactive design, where, to Braeden's shock, it won the Gold Award, the highest honor possible.

Winning the Gold Award means Braeden’s project will advance to the district competition in April, and potentially move on to the national level depending on those results.

While he remains focused on a software development career track, Davis is grateful that the experience has helped him discover an area of strength.

“I would have never taken a UX design class unless it was required,” he said. “But it’s helped me try to become well-rounded.”