Hollywood, Fla. - PAVE's influence over tomorrow's retail designers and visual merchandisers continues to grow. The Planning and Visual Education Partnership (PAVE) will award $21,000 in grants to students and $6,000 in school awards based on the winning entries of its 2012 Student Design Competition. Judging took place Nov. 5, 2012, at B+N Industries offices in Burlingame, Calif. The competition was geared toward college-level students involved in retail planning, visual merchandising and interior design programs. PAVE thanks B+N Industries, the sponsor of this year's competition, Bonobos, and all of the judges, educators, and students who participated. The winners will be recognized at the 16th Annual Gala in New York on Dec. 5, 2012.

"This is our fourth year of sponsoring a PAVE design competition and the first year of sponsoring the Student Design Competition. It was so much fun to see how the students took an online brand, Bonobos, and interpreted it into a brick and mortar pop-up store. We reviewed some amazing entries and it made all of us at B+N Industries proud to be associated and supportive of the new crop of young design professionals," said Brad Somberg, president, B+N Industries.

Congratulations to the following PAVE 2012 Student Design Competition Winners:

Store Design Category

1st Place - $5,000 - Katie Barton, University of Cincinnati

2nd Place - $2,500 - Danielle Fraley, University of Cincinnati

3rd Place - $1,500 - Abigail Buchanan, University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Honorable Mention - $500 - Lauren Burns, University of Cincinnati

Honorable Mention - $500 - Stephanie Metzger, Miami University

Honorable Mention - $500 - Hye Young Park, Fashion Institute of Technology

Honorable Mention - $500 - Holly Smith, University of Cincinnati

Honorable Mention - $500 - Stephanie Tripp, Humber College

Honorable Mention - $500 - Katie Wittes, University of Cincinnati

Visual Merchandising Category

1st Place - $5,000 - Lucie Calise, University of Cincinnati

2nd Place - $2,500 - Joshua Lunney, TAFE NSW Sydney Institute

3rd Place - $1,500 - Anastasia Ivanova, Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences

School Awards for Students Placing in the Top Three of Each Category

$3,000 University of Cincinnati

$1,000 Kymenlaakso University of Applied Sciences

$1,000 TAFE NSW Sydney Institute

$1,000 University of North Carolina at Greensboro

This year's winners faced a competitive field of 428 entries, including 371 in the overall store design category and 57 in the visual merchandising category.

Judging the 2012 competition were:

Eileen Conway, Bonobos Guides, Bonobos, Palo Alto, Calif.; Christian Davies, Executive Creative Director, Americas, FITCH, Inc., Columbus; Pirkko Lucchesi, Design Director, B+N Industries, Burlingame, Calif.; Kevin McPhee, Creative Director, B+N Industries, Burlingame, Calif.; Alison Embrey Medina, Executive Editor, DDI, Atlanta; and Brad Somberg, President, B+N Industries, Burlingame, Calif.

Source: PAVE