Design Students Achieve Top International, National, and Regional Honors
The last several months were winning ones for undergraduate students and alumni from the Department of Design as they earned top honors internationally, nationally, and regionally for their projects.
Four design students placed in the top 12 in the 17th Annual International Housewares Association (IHA) Student Design Competition. Considered the most prestigious student design competition in the country, this year’s field included a record 283 entries from 23 universities.
Trevis Kurz, a junior, received a first place award of $2,500 for his Sanas Smoke Alarm project. His concept allows a user to change the battery, silence alarms, and maintain the system with a broomstick. Junior Jamie Perin received a third place award of $1,200 for her EZ Lace shoe, designed for a person with one hand to tie a shoe. Juniors Kayla Rosebrook and Emma Sanders, received Honorable Mentions and a $250 award.
As first and third place winners, Reed and Perin received an expense-paid trip to Chicago to display their product concepts at the International Home + Housewares Show, March 14—16 in Chicago. The show hosts 55,000 people from more than 100 countries, with 2,000 companies displaying their products to retail buyers. They had the opportunity to explain their projects to visitors. Both had good traffic at their booths, received positive comments, and gained an understanding of the complexities of how businesses and manufacturers work, including that they’d need their design concept patented before a company could negotiate with them.
Kurz had companies and design firms ask about his summer plans, so he’s going to follow up in hopes of landing an internship. “My project was posted on gizmodo.com while I was in Chicago, and I also applied for a provisional patent,” he said.
Perin received many compliments on solving a real problem. “A man with one hand came to my booth and congratulated me on my solution, which was really gratifying,” she said.
Laura Leon, a senior, spent autumn quarter studying abroad at the Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weissensee, a prestigious school of art and design in Berlin. She and her project partner, Andrea Ortega Velasco from Mexico, created a sustainable project as part of a competition sponsored by GTZ Berlin. GTZ is an organization that promotes international cooperation for sustainable development.
Their project concept involved using high-low technology to improve the current situation for single mother weavers in Barichara, Colombia. The pair developed “Enlace Barichara, Weaving Mother-Child Bonds,” a proto-type baby carrier. Their concept combined local natural fiber materials and weaving techniques with high technology concepts of ergonomics, quality baby carrier finishing, and safety. Mothers could use the carriers to keep their babies close to them while they worked to create new ones for export.
Leon and Velasco were among 12 interdisciplinary finalists invited to return to Berlin on February 4 to present their work in front of a jury at a final symposium. Theirs was the only project from the field of Design.
Undergraduate design student work was also recognized at November 2009’s Creative Best juried regional competition, held annually by the Columbus Society of Communicating Arts (CSCA).
Three or four nationally known judges review hundreds of entries in twelve categories. Each judge has the opportunity to designate a “Judges Choice” Award for their “favorite” project among all winners.
Kevin Ryan, who recently graduated, won three awards, including “Best of Category” and a coveted “Judge’s Choice” Award for his “Brand Strategy and Packaging Series.” He also received an “Award of Excellence” for an interaction design project. Christopher Eckel won an “Award of Excellence” for his senior project in publication design.” Another senior, Mark Kursmark received an “Award of Merit,” for his interaction design project.
The Creative Best catalog of competition winners is distributed nationally and internationally. Meredith Reuter, a Design aluma, designed this year’s catalog and coordinated the competition.
