Three Mississippi State University students received two of the
top five Awards of Excellence in an annual regional collegiate
design competition.
Senior Micheal Curtis of Slidell, La., senior Adam Howard of
Florence, Ala. and Paul Porter of Como, Miss. were among the top
finishers in the recent PUSH Design Conference and Competition in
Memphis, Tenn.
“We [competitors] had to come up with an idea for an ethnic
restaurant and design it from start to finish,” Curtis said. “We
did the logo, menus and any printed collateral for the company and
also did a double-page advertisement for the restaurant.”
Curtis’ entry was a solo effort while Howard and Porter entered
the competition as a small group.
“I began last fall on the project and worked on it pretty much
the whole semester,” Curtis said.
The terms of the competition for MSU students were that each
group or individual had to develop an ethnic restaurant and create
all of the design and advertisement features for the hypothetical
business.
“The hardest part for me was coming up with a concept that was
really interesting,” Curtis said. “I ended up choosing a
Greek-themed restaurant.”
Porter and Howard decided on an Ethiopian style restaurant and
named it “Habasha.”
“We incorporated unique geometric shapes from textile patterns
that were native of Africa for our designs,” Porter said.
More than 100 students from Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi and
Tennessee entered this year’s competition. Of these students, only
25 were accepted for final judging. Eight of the final 25 were from
MSU. Other winning schools include Arkansas State University,
Memphis College of Art and Western Kentucky University.
The event is sponsored by the Memphis Advertising Federation,
the Memphis College of Art and the University of Memphis. This
year’s panel of judges included Genevieve Gorder from The Learning
Channel’s hit show “Trading Spaces.”
“This year’s competition was good experience. It really gives
students a chance to see more about advertising,” Porter said.
To date, MSU has received more PUSH honors than any other
participating university or college in the four-state region. The
PUSH Design Conference is also set up to allow students to attend
with advertising professionals for tours, speakers and portfolio
reviews.