Interior Design students take national and international prizes
Two interior design students at Utah State University are building reputations far from the Logan campus, earning honors at national and international competitions.
Holly Murdock took top honors from the American Society of Interior Designers National Student Commercial Design competition and earned a trip to the national convention in San Francisco. She also received a $1,500 cash prize. As a guest of the conference, Murdock was honored at a student luncheon.
Earlier in the year, Murdock, with fellow USU interior design student Hayley Neil, submitted an entry in an international design competition. Work by the duo was among the top five student projects. That competition was held in conjunction with the Tasmeem Doha 2007 design conference. Murdock and Neil were the only American team recognized in the competition. Other winners represented universities in Lebanon, Canada and Germany. Murdock and Neil earned trips to the Middle East as part of the prize award.
The competition was held in conjunction with Virginia Commonwealth University Quatar and the VCUQ School of the Arts in Qatar. It focused on sustainable design and the theme of water. Murdock and Neil traveled to Qatar for the conference.
In the competition, students were to propose a place, product, image, event, technology or process that addressed the selected condition and emphasized the value of water, drawing upon one of its particular characteristics.
Murdock and Neil are students of USU interior design faculty member Darrin Brooks, who introduced the competition to members of a fall semester course. The competition was not a part of a class assignment, however.
“I announced the competition, but Holly and Haley put their submission together over the holiday break on their own,” Brooks said. “They are highly motivated. They worked on many competitions throughout fall semester, but this was above and beyond the class assignments. I give them all the credit.”
Some of the world’s greatest sustainable designers and experts were featured at the conference.
“As for the water project, we felt that the biggest impact we could make was to educate people about the devastation created by the lack of clean drinking water around the world,” Murdock and Neil said. “Nearly 1.6 million children under the age of 5 die each year from a water-borne disease, at the rate of 6,000 a day. If the average American realized this, most would want to help.”
Education became a large part of Murdock and Neil’s solution. They created a 12-page brochure that examined the global water crisis. They also created a blog that included articles and information about the issue.
“But we wanted to take the project one step further and create a way that people could help in a personal and concrete way,” they said.
The pair devised a unique way to raise funds and awareness. They designed a scarf and made the instructions for it available online.
“Anyone in the world can download and print the instructions and tags,” they said. “They can then make the scarf and sell it as a way to raise money to donate to water charities.”
The blog (wateris.wordpress.com) includes instructions for making the scarf, and especially designed tags to be used when selling the scarf.
The design of the scarf was inspired by the work of a Japanese textile artist and is symbolic of the beauty of water. The scarf can be made for as little as $3 and Murdock and Neil suggest selling the scarf for $25. With the anticipated $22 profit, a donation can be made that could provide fresh drinking water to one perform for the next 15 years. Instructions for the scarf are at the top right of the blog page under the tab “scarf.”
“This project didn’t lend itself to an interior design solution,” Murdock said. “This gave us the opportunity to apply the things we’ve learned in our classes to other areas of design. We incorporated graphic design, fashion design, Web site design and writing to bring together a unique presentation to explain our ideas.”
Murdock also said the award-winning pair wanted to take the project beyond the realm of a hypothetical competition and do something that makes a real impact on the global water crisis. To date, their Web site has received more than 1,700 hits from 62 countries.
Murdock is from Logan and graduated from Logan High School. Neil is from South Jordan, Utah, and graduated from Bingham High School.
“I was so impressed by the conference and the variety of designers I heard from and the students I met,” Neil said. “It was incredible to hear about other fields of design and ways they are working toward a more sustainable life.”
Murdock’s solo award came from the National American Society of Interior Designers. She entered the competition through a project that she completed in Brooks’s design studio. The assignment was to design a camp for children that involved sustainability and accessibility. The design was to be universal in approach.
“Many interior design programs across the country include this competition as a course project,” Brooks said. “USU’s students have done well in the past – we’ve received two honorable mentions. This is the first year a USU student took the top prize. We are proud of Holly and she represented us well.”
Katie Johnson, a representative from the competition, notified Murdock of her winning effort.
“Your design boards were absolutely stunning and your design solution was superb,” Johnson told Murdock. “The judges were very impressed.”
Murdock was invited to speak during the award luncheon held in her honor. Her design boards were displayed in the student exhibition area.
Murdock and Neil are seniors and graduate from USU’s Interior Design program this spring. Murdock has been hired by the internationally recognized firm Gensler and will work at the Denver, Colo., office. Neil plans to move to San Antonio, Texas, and pursue work at a commercial design firm. She also wants to take fashion design classes.
“Many of our graduating seniors move on to work with prestigious firms,” Brooks said. “Many gain experience working as interns in London, New York or California. That rich experience, working with great firms, allows them to gain great jobs.”
For information on USU’s Interior Design program, contact Brooks at (435) 797-1559, or see the Web site at http://interiordesign.usu.edu/.