Students and Schools Awarded $22,000 by PAVE

Hollywood, Fla. (December 03, 2007)—The Planning and Visual Partnership's (PAVE's) 2007 Student Design Competition judging took place on November 8 at the Sony Design Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and the results are in. Based on the winning entries, PAVE awarded $16,000 in grants to students and $6,000 in school awards. The competition was geared toward two- and four-year college-level students who are involved in retail planning, merchandising, and branding programs. PAVE would like to thank Sony Electronics Inc., sponsor of this year's competition, and all of the judges, educators, and students who participated.

Congratulations to the following PAVE 2007 Student Design Competition Winners:

Overall Store Design Category Winners
$3,000 - 1st Place—Betty Yiu, San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif.
$2,000- 2nd Place—Jesse Moyer, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, Calif.
$1,500 - 3rd Place—Vania Kristiani, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore
$500 - Honorable Mention—Lindsey Winchell, California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, Calif.
$500 - Honorable Mention—Theresa Gilfrich, Radford University, Radford, Va.
$500 - Honorable Mention—Jacob Herman II, University of Bridgeport, Bridgeport, Conn.

Visual Merchandising Category
$3,000 - 1st Place—Jasmine Ji-Young Yoon, FIT, NYC
$2,000- 2nd Place—Jieun Hwang, FIT, NYC
$1,500 - 3rd Place—Lauren Gries, FIT, NYC
$500 - Honorable Mention—Yoshiko Fujitani, FIT, NYC
$500 - Honorable Mention—Gerard Karlo Rabara, FIT, NYC
$500 - Honorable Mention—Azhelle Wade, FIT, NYC

Schools with students placing in the top three of each category receive $1,000 for each student:
$3,000—FIT, NYC
$1,000—San Jose State University, San Jose, Calif.
$1,000—California State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, Calif.
$1,000—Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore

This year's winners faced a very competitive field as a record-breaking 362 entries were submitted, 249 in the overall store design category and 113 in the visual merchandising category.

The judges for the 2007 Competition were: Alex Arie, director of industrial design group and design strategy group, Sony Design Center, Santa Monica; Gemini Babla, director of brand strategy and design, Sony Electronics Inc., San Diego; Christine Belich, vice president of visual presentation, Sony Electronics Inc., NYC; Ken Donham, senior manager of retail environment and merchandising, Virgin Entertainment Group, Los Angeles; Rodney Fitch, chairman, Fitch, London; Denny Gerdeman, principal, Chute Gerdeman, Columbus, Ohio; George Martin, vice president of creative, Patina-V, Industry City, Calif.; Tim Opsomer, vice president of visual merchandising and store planning, MGM Mirage Retail, Las Vegas; Nabu Sakamoto, director of graphic and user interface, Sony Design Center, Santa Monica; and Naz Zamani, senior designer of graphic, Sony Design Center, Santa Monica.

"We at Sony are excited to give the opportunity to the future designers of our industry to work on a project in which they can express themselves and use their skills to participate in a real life design challenge," said Christine Belich, vice president of visual presentation, Sony Electronics Inc.

Sony executives developed the design challenges in partnership with PAVE's Vice President, Education, Eric Feigenbaum, LIM, NY, and the PAVE Education Committee. One of PAVE�s major objectives is to encourage schools to develop retail design curriculums that will help develop the stars of the industry's future. It looks like this year's winners are well on their way.

Editor's note: High-resolution images from the judging are available. PAVE can also provide contacts for interviews. Contact Catharine Scott, above, for more information. Details about the design challenges for the 2007 Student Design Competition are available online at www.paveinfo.org. See link to 2007 Guidelines on left side of the web page. Images of winning entries will be posted on the PAVE web site in December.

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