2019 FORM Student Innovation Competition

Tthe 2019 FORM Student Innovation Competition invites architecture and interior design students to showcase their creativity by designing furniture pieces for resimercial spaces that showcase Formica® Brand products. As part of Formica Corporation’s greater effort to support and inspire future designers, students will have the chance to win cash prizes, national recognition and have their work showcased in a public exhibition. The 2019 FORM Student Innovation Competition is open for entries through Dec. 10, 2018.    

New this year, students are challenged to create a resimercial furniture design using Formica® Brand products that embody this growing design trend, blurring the line between residential and commercial spaces. The distinguished panel of industry and design professionals who will judge the work of today’s up-and-coming talent include:

•  Leanne Ford, interior designer and star of “Restored by the Fords” on HGTV
• Tristan Butterfield, chief creative officer at Baker Interiors Group
• Jaime Velez, former director of interior design at SOM
• Renee Hytry Derrington, global design lead at Formica Group
• Steven Matijcio, curator for the Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati

“As we continue to see the line between commercial and residential design blur, with residential spaces inspired by hospitality settings and office and health care environments designed to feel like home, we are excited to see recent momentum for the resimercial trend,” Hytry Derrington said. “I can’t wait to see what today’s talented students will envision in their entries.”

The grand prize winner will receive a $1,500 cash award, and their design will be created and displayed at an unveiling event at the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center on March 22, 2019. The second-place winner will be awarded $1,000, and the third-place winner will receive $500.  

“I am so excited to see how students interpret the new wave of ‘resimercial’ design,” Ford said. “In reality, this is a style that has been around for years and will continue well into the future, but now it has a name. I love that these rising design students will undoubtably have an impact on how it continues to evolve as they jump into their careers. I am thrilled and honored to be part of this competition.”

Inspired by the creativity of design icons  

The 2019 FORM Student Innovation Competition is inspired by the original iteration of this competition held in 2008, in which the company invited 10 world-renowned designers and architects including Velez, Zaha Hadid, Michael Graves, Bernard Tschumi and Massimo Vignelli, among others, to create works of art from Formica® Brand products. Their designs, which ranged from domestic pieces to conceptual sculptures, were then exhibited at the Contemporary Arts Center.

The  2019 FORM Student Innovation Competition upholds the spirit of the original challenge, but now students—the next generation of designers—are invited to express their creativity in these designs, showing attention to detail, inventive design and a unique point of view. 

Entries accepted Sept. 10, 2018, through Dec. 10, 2018

Competition submissions can be emailed to: [email protected]. All entries must include the use of three or more Formica® Laminate products as an integral part of a design that can be used in commercial and residential settings. Winners will be announced to the public on March 11, 2019. For more information, including complete competition details and rules, visit  http://www.formica.com/studentcompetition.