Three Cal State Long Beach design students are finalists in the PAVE the Way 3-D Design Challenge, in which students designed a 3-D display for a pet product of their choice.
The chosen finalists will showcase their display at GlobalShop 2011 in Las Vegas, Nev.
CSULB senior industrial design major Scott Truong created a Better Betta display, and juniors Catherine Morse and Greg Vanderpol designed a Hermes Talaris Saddle display.
Truong said he was encouraged to enter the competition by one of his design professors, Wesley Woelfel. For his project, Truong focused on colorful betta fish, instead of a seemingly more obvious choice, like dogs or cats.
“My concept for the pet display was designed in hopes of introducing fish into the increasingly popular boutique pet stores that only carry products for cats and dogs,” Truong said. “In order to do so, I created a brand, ‘Better Betta,’ that took the familiarity of betta fish in cups and designed a display that embraces that familiarity.”
He said, instead of displaying betta fish in cheap-looking plastic cups on metal racks, he created a stand made of sustainable materials to showcase the bright fish in recycled glass cups, inside slots like cup holders.
According to Truong, one of the more difficult aspects of the design was making it easy to assemble, without the use of fasteners.
“I wanted to design a display that was very much focused on its form, but also was very much concerned with its function,” he said.
The design was created to be simple, effective and easily broken down for shipping.
In addition, Morse and Vanderpol worked as a team to create their display for the Hermes Talaris Saddle.
Like Truong, they chose to go with an unorthodox product — a designer horse saddle.
“What’s interesting about the saddle is that it is a beautiful blend of old-world craftsmanship and modern technology,” Morse said. “The leather parts are stitched by hand, while the structure is made of carbon fiber and titanium. We were inspired by the saddle itself and the saddle-maker’s workshop, finding beauty in the utilitarian yet graceful tools that are used.”
Morse and Vanderpol said they wanted to focus on the technical aspects of the saddle without losing the elegant equestrian style of the Hermes Company.
“We used more rustic materials like reclaimed walnut hardwood and reclaimed iron I-beam and rivets, coupled with more refined elements like hook and eyebolt hardware inspired by the clasp on a Hermes necklace,” Morse said.
According to Vanderpol, the Talaris Saddle is unique because it merges highly skilled handcrafting, an exclusive fashion branding and modern technology.
“At first glance, Talaris looks fairly unassuming, but inside there are carbon fiber and titanium components,” Vanderpol said. “We decided that the best celebration of Talaris would be to show it exploded, with all of its parts arranged visibly.”
According to the PAVE website, a panel of professionals will select the winning designer at the GlobalShop event, which will take place from March 28-30.
The grand prize winner will receive $5,000. The second place winner will get $2,500 and third place will receive $1,500. Cash prizes of $500 will also be awarded to several honorable mentions.
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