The Department of Design is celebrating the achievements of industrial design students Grace McCoy and Faith Schneider, whose furniture design work was selected among the Top 10 entries in Formica Corporation’s annual FORM Student Innovation Competition. The prestigious international competition attracts submissions from emerging designers across the United States, Canada and Mexico and challenges students to create innovative furniture designs that showcase creativity, functionality and material exploration. This year, the competition theme was “Mood-Boosting Design” and FORM received over 300 submissions.

McCoy and Schneider developed their outstanding entries as part of the DESIGN 3551: Materials + Processes for Industrial Design course, where students investigate the relationship between materials, manufacturing methods, and design innovation. Their recognition among the competition’s top finalists highlights both their individual talent and the industrial design curriculum’s emphasis on hands-on experimentation and creative problem-solving.

McCoy, who placed 8th overall with her entryway design, reflected: “This project turned out to be a fun surprise. I didn’t expect it to go anywhere since I originally saw it as just a class assignment. My process was all about creating something that would improve the mood the minute you walked into a house. I love adding personality to a space while still making something functional that people would actually use. Working with laminate added another challenge, but it pushed me to think differently about shape and color. Overall, it was a great experience and such a cool way to enter my first design competition!”

Schneider placed 6th with her playful classroom tables and said, “My experience with this project was all about trusting my roots and doing what I love doing best, which was fun and playful designs. While the college experience is often about experimentation of new styles of design, I felt I made a design that reflected myself. It was so fun to see all my classmates' work on their own colorful and beautiful models as well.”

The FORM Student Innovation Competition is sponsored by Formica Corporation and invites students studying industrial design, furniture design, architecture and interior design to create original furniture concepts using products from the Formica portfolio. The project kicked off with a visit from Michael Hertensteiner, Formica Group North America’s National Sales Manager, who held a product education session for the students. The competition is judged by leading design professionals, including designer Ayse Birsel, and serves as a platform for emerging designers to gain industry exposure.

The selected designs can be viewed in the official video review featuring all Top 10 entries.

Congratulations again to Grace McCoy and Faith Schneider on representing Ohio State with distinction on an international stage! We look forward to seeing where their design careers take them next as they head into their third year of studies.