ISU students, faculty and recent graduates win 2024 International Design Awards
AMES, Iowa –– Several Iowa State University students, faculty and recent graduates are recipients of the 2024 International Design Awards (IDA). Collectively, they won 13 awards in nine different categories.
The International Design Awards competition recognizes, celebrates and promotes exceptional design visionaries and works to discover emerging talent in architecture, interior design, product design, graphic design and fashion design.
Exploring exhibition design
Team projects developed in the spring 2024 DSNS 5460: Exhibition Design studio — taught by Pete Evans, assistant professor of industrial design; Mike Ford, associate professor of practice in interior design; and Andrea Quam, associate professor of graphic design — won multiple awards. This marks the sixth consecutive year that work created in an interdisciplinary studio taught by Evans, Ford, and Quam has won an International Design Award.
Composed of graphic design, industrial design, interior design and architecture students, the class focused on creating a next-generation experiential design proposal for the Trajan’s Market Museum of the Imperial Fora in Rome. As a part of their research, students visited the Eternal City to get inspiration to create innovative, professional-level design proposals to celebrate a potential exhibition and new welcome center vantage point.
“In Rome, the students were able to meet with our client at the Trajan’s Market Museum as well tour the project site,” said Ford. “That experience allowed them to create professional, award-winning work. We ask a lot of these students and they consistently deliver at a high level.”
Winning projects included:
“Damned Elagabalus Exhibit” by Jaida Christensen (BArch 2024 Architecture), Sydney New (BFA 2024 Interior Design), Cabria Olsen (BFA 2024 Graphic Design) and Grace Polzin (BFA 2024 Interior Design)
“Trajan Market + Gardens in Rome, Italy” by Jana Carlson (BFA 2024 Graphic Design), Britney Conway (BFA 2024 Interior Design), Isabelle Gillette (BFA 2024 Interior Design), Bailey Gunderson (BFA 2024 Interior Design) and Shakiba Moradi, graduate student in interior design and human computer interaction
The adventures of Maple
In an effort to address the lack of children’s books that feature a main character with a disability, Bruno Oro, assistant professor of industrial design, and his student team created “Maple’s Clinic Visit,” which won a gold in the print/books category, and “Maple’s Workout,” which won a silver in the same category.
The books explain the clinical procedures Maple, a teddy bear, experiences as it navigates the world with its orthotics. Originally designed for children with cerebral palsy, the books help reduce anxiety in children by gently explaining what to expect during medical visits.
“These projects were the result of extensive research, collaboration and creative problem-solving,” Oro said. “Seeing them recognized at this level validates all the effort that went into them.”
Student contributors to both projects are Kaitlyn Gehrels and Brooke Wreay, both now seniors in industrial design, and Tyler Young, who graduated with a bachelor of industrial design last May.
Capstone studio projects
Emma Lenz and Eric Paskach, both of whom graduated with their bachelor of industrial design in 2024, and Marshall Overhiser, who received his bachelor of industrial design in 2023, created their winning projects during their capstone studios under Oro’s guidance.
Overhiser won gold in the conceptual products/sports and leisure category with “HOOV,” a concept shoe that addresses elderly users’ fear of falling, prioritizing stability, ease of use and style.
Lenz’s “TuneTrax” — a toy car that turns music into play — won silver in the conceptual/products/children/education category, and Paskach took silver in the footwear/children’s footwear category with “Dino Stride,” an orthotics-friendly children’s shoe.
Designing for the community
Projects by first-time International Design Award winners Parivash Babaee, a graphic design graduate student, and Patrick Finley, assistant professor of graphic design, focus on advocacy and forced labor.
Babaee’s “Woman, Life, Freedom” poster, which won a gold in the prints/poster category, highlights the ongoing movement for women’s rights in Iran. Receiving top honors for this poster has reminded Babaee that there is so much to be said through images, she said.
Babaee won additional awards in the advertising/promotion/logos/trademarks/symbols category for her “Ziker Logo and Stationery Design” (gold) and “Clean and Cool” (bronze) and in the print/annual books category with “Aparat Annual Book Report” (silver).
“Being recognized on an international level is both exciting and validating,” Babaee said. “It motivates me to keep pushing creative boundaries and exploring new ideas in design.”
Working with the North Central Iowa Coalition Against Human Trafficking, Finley had just two weeks to create their logo and branding, which won a gold in the advertising/promotion/logos/trademarks/symbols category. The agency works to bring awareness, support and relief to the victims of human trafficking throughout the 20 northwestern Iowa counties. Finley hopes this recognition inspires his students to “design for good.”
“I want my students to know that award-winning work can come from any client assignment and of any genre,” Finley said. “My ‘design for good’ mentality encourages students to not only design for a paycheck but to provide creative services to those in need and who can greatly benefit from it.”
Contacts
Parivash Babaee, Graphic Design Graduate Student, parivash@iastate.edu
Patrick Finley, Assistant Professor of Graphic Design, pmfinley@iastate.edu
Mike Ford, Associate Professor of Practice, Interior Design, msford@iastate.edu
Bruno Oro, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design, brunooro@iastate.edu
Lauren Johnson, Communications Specialist, College of Design, laujohn2@iastate.edu
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