Great success for the Creative Technologies Department at Salzburg University of Applied Sciences: students achieved outstanding results at the Europe-wide ADCE Student Award 2025 in Barcelona. With seven medals, five shortlist placements and the coveted Young Star Award, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences is the most successful university in the German-speaking world.
The USB Paradox by Felix Foltas and Jonas Perkmann was named Young Star 2025. The multi-award-winning graduation film, produced with a large team for the complex VFX shots, was named the best student creative project in Europe. The commercial humorously plays on a universal everyday moment: the seemingly impossible attempt to insert a USB stick correctly the first time.
Outstanding results in European competition
The best student work on the continent was presented in Barcelona as part of the Art Directors Club of Europe (ADCE) Creative Week. An international jury awarded gold, silver or bronze to a total of 57 of the 290 submissions from 19 countries. 102 projects made it onto the shortlist.
‘The fact that several of our projects received multiple awards and that one of our students received the Young Star Award, the competition's highest honour, impressively demonstrates the creative excellence and technological innovation of our department,’ emphasises Hilmar Linder, Head of the Creative Technologies Department.
The award-winning projects from FH Salzburg
The USB Paradox – by Felix Foltas and Jonas Perkmann
- Gold in the Motion / Film Craft category
- Silver in the Advertising category
- YoungStar Award 2025 – the competition's highest prize
Everyone knows that moment when the USB stick only fits after turning it around three times. However, very few people know the reason for this phenomenon: tiny little people inside your computer always get there before you and enjoy making your life difficult. Unfortunately, this proves fatal for the two pilots, Samantha and Josh.
Plugging in without drama? It's easy with USB-C. Always on your side.
GRIT – by Bastian Gasser and Florian Weger
- Bronze in the Brand / Communication Design category
The desire for social recognition often leads to impulsive consumption, reinforced by social media and advertising – long-term goals and values take a back seat. GRIT is a shopping platform that analyses purchasing decisions, compares them with personal goals and interrupts impulsive behaviour. Instead of making bad purchases, users receive clear recommendations and can invest the money they save in value-adding alternatives such as stocks, art or real estate.
In this way, GRIT helps users regain control over their own consumer behaviour step by step – for conscious consumption that brings joy and remains meaningful.
Synaesthetic – by Gianna Ricci
- Bronze in the Publication Design category
Synesthesia describes the coupling of sensory impressions – for example, when numbers, periods of time or sounds are perceived visually. Synaesthetic invites you to immerse yourself in this world. The project translates synaesthetic perceptions into visual forms and questions how time and rhythm can be represented graphically. The combination of intuition, movement and structure creates a completely new approach to information design.
More about the project
BINGO – by Juliane Steiner
- Bronze in the Motion / Film Craft category
A seemingly harmless afternoon of bingo in a nursing home is not just about numbers, but about what often remains unspoken: sexual assault in women's everyday lives. The short film BINGO makes it clear that assault is not a question of age – and that every woman has a story to tell. The aim is to address a topic that is all too often hushed up and to take a stand against silence.
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Not my Construction Site – by Annika Braun, Anja Gutschmidt, Alina Traun and Sebastian Scholtze
- Bronze in the Experiential Design & Brand / Communication Design category
Not my Construction Site is an intervention in public space that uses seven interactive stations to address key excuses that prevent people from actively participating in society. It confronts passers-by with these excuses and challenges them to critically question their behaviour. Like the prevailing passivity in society, this construction site also blocks the flow of public life and brings political discourse back onto the streets.
More about the project