EDPA Student Design Competition Winners Announced Posted 10/7/98

ATLANTA -- Three universities earned recognition for their students' exhibit design ideas in the Exhibit Designers & Producers Association (EDPA's) 1998 Student Design Competition. The winners were announced at an awards luncheon September 2 at the Exhibit Designer World Symposium in Chicago. The event, managed by Stewart Associates and sponsored by EDPA, was attended by exhibit designers and project managers, industrial, architectural, graphic and interior designers as well as design students.

1998 EDPA STUDENT DESIGN COMPETITION WINNERS

1st Place The Art Institute of Seattle

Seattle Mentor: i.e. DESIGN

Students: Clark McCune, Shafiq Ahmadi, Jason Patrick and Cyrus Tilton

2nd Place Nesbitt College of Design Arts at Drexel University

Philadelphia Mentor:Art Guild, Inc.

Students: Brian Smith, Henry Vega, Brian Kempf and Hyerin Woo

3rd Place Georgia Institute of Technology

Atlanta Mentor: Nth Degree

Students: Trasie Adams, Drew Frazer, Brian Laser, Mandy McDaniel and Eric Nichols

Fred Kitzing Exhibition Marketing Award Nesbitt College of Design Arts at Drexel University, Philadelphia Mentor:Art Guild, Inc. Students: Brian Smith, Henry Vega, Brian Kempf and Hyerin Woo Nine

Distinguished professionals in the exhibit design and marketing industry served as judges for the competition: Allan Cordial, of Creative Productions, Pittsburgh; Andrew Flor, of The Design Agency, Elk Grove Village, Ill.; Mike Grivas, of MG Design Associates Corporation, Chicago; Michael Hughes, of Tradeshow Week, Los Angeles; Kent Jones, of Derse Exhibits, Milwaukee; EDPA President Robert Laarhoven, of Laarhoven Design, Atlanta; EDPA Executive Director Mike Levin, Atlanta; Anna Waddell, of Exhibit Builder Magazine, Barrington, Ill.; Chris Wendel, of Exhibitgroup/Giltspur New York, Edison, N.J.; and was moderated by Competition Chair Gary Palumbo, Palumbo Associates, Millington, N.J.

The competition, which received a record number of entries this year, was started by EDPA in 1992 to foster collaboration between students, teachers, and full-time exhibit professionals. The competition entails the design and presentation of a hypothetical 30' x 30' booth for EDPA, as well as show literature, invitations and other support materials. Bret H. Smith, associate professor, Department of Industrial Design, Auburn University, along with Gary Stewart, CEO of The Stewart Companies in Atlanta, developed the competition for EDPA. The competition involves not only the students and faculty at competing schools, but "mentor" firms in the exhibit design industry as well. The mentor firms provide guidance, assign personnel to attend presentations, participate in the grading of the student teams, and allow student teams to tour their facilities as part of the project. The annual contest is open to design students (or groups of students) who, through their respective schools, have followed the EDPA Student Design Competition guidelines and brought the project to a conclusion. There is no entry fee. For more information or a copy of the guidelines, contact EDPA headquarters at phone: (404) 303-7310; fax: (404) 252-0774; Email: edpa@assnhq.com; or on the Internet at www.edpa.com. EDPA members include exhibit designers/producers, systems manufacturers/marketers, show service contractors, exhibit transportation companies and other organizations that provide services or products to the exhibit industry. Founded in 1955, EDPA is committed to being the leading trade show marketing service association in the exhibit industry. Its objective is to serve organizations that provide exhibits and related services to the exhibitor in order to maximize their trade show marketing programs. Mariann Brown EDPA - Exhibit Designers & Producers Association edpa@assnhq.com.