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 $19,000 in grants to students and $6,000 in school awards based on the winning entries of its 2013 Student Design Competition. Judging took place Nov. 1, 2013, at the Sephora offices in San Francisco. The competition was geared toward college-level students involved in retail planning, visual merchandising, and interior design programs. PAVE thanks Sephora—the sponsor of this year’s competition—and all of the judges, educators, and students who participated. The winners will be recognized at the 17th Annual PAVE Gala in New York on Dec. 4, 2013.

Said Paul Loux, “The Sephora Design team was highly impressed with this year's student submissions. It's both invigorating and thought-provoking to see what the students developed in response to the challenges. The caliber of the entries made it difficult to select the winners – each of whom excelled at both the strategic articulation of their concept and the visualization. Retailers should actively consider sponsoring the PAVE competition; it's an invaluable mirror on your brand from the vital perspective of the upcoming generation of brand builders and designers".

Congratulations to the following PAVE 2013 Student Design Competition Winners:

Store Design Category

1st Place - $5,000 – Quianna Teixeria, Humber College, Toronto, Canada

2nd Place - $2,500 – Jennifer Bukovec, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

3rd Place - $1,500 – Jillian Maddox, California State University, Long Beach, California

Honorable Mention - $500 – Rachel McGarry, Humber College, Toronto, Canada

Visual Merchandising Category

1st Place - $5,000 – Lauren Ferrell, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

2nd Place - $2,500 – Li May Foo, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore

3rd Place - $1,500 – Gabrielle Enzweiler, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

Honorable Mention - $500 – Jaemin Song, Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City

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

$3,000 University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio

$1,000 California State University, Long Beach, California

$1,000 Humber College, Toronto Canada

$1,000 Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, Singapore

This year’s winners faced a competitive field of over 500 entries, including more than 400 in the overall store design category.

Judging the 2013 competition were:

Paul Loux, SVP Store Design, Sephora, San Francisco

Barbara Emerson, VP Store Design, Sephora, San Francisco

Chris Hope, Sr. Director Concept Development, Sephora, San Francisco

Jason Arth, Sr. Director Store Design, Sephora, San Francisco

Kate Holekamp, Director Project Management, Sephora, San Francisco

Corey Dehus, Executive Director, WD Partners, San Francisco

Denny Gerdeman, CEO, Chute Gerdeman, Columbus, Ohio

William McHenry, President, Elevations Inc., San Francisco

Brad Somberg, President, B + N Industries, San Francisco

Note for editors: PAVE can provide contacts for interviews. Contact Dash Nagel, above, for more information. Details about the design challenges for the 2013 Student Design Competition are available online at www.paveinfo.org. See link to 2013 Guidelines on left side of the home page of the PAVE web site.

About PAVE, www.paveinfo.org

Founded in 1992, the Planning and Visual Education Partnership's (PAVE) objective is to encourage students to study in the field of retail design and planning and visual merchandising. Additionally, PAVE seeks to encourage retail management, store planners, visual merchandisers, architects, and manufacturers to interact with and support design students. These objectives are accomplished through competitions, projects, seminars, workshops, and grants and scholarships funded by the annual Gala and other fundraising activities. PAVE is a 501(c)(3) educational foundation administered by A.R.E.

Source: PAVE