Two students win first stage of Groovystuff's design challenge

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, November 2, 2012

This Xylophone Table by Janejira Bualoy, a design student from Thailand, was one of two pieces that won the popular vote at in Groovystuff’s design challenge at the High Point Market.

DALLAS — Hailong Piao from Auburn University and Janejira Bualoy from King Mongkut's Institute of Technology Ladkrabang in Bangkok, Thailand, have won the first phase of Groovystuff's latest design challenge.

Their designs received the most votes from High Point Market attendees who saw miniature models and product display boards from students at the fall show.

Named the Groovystuff by Design: Connecting Education with Industry Challenge, the contest tasks students with designing a sustainably producible item that reflects the Dick Idol Legends rustic brand. Groovystuff, a reclaimed teak furniture supplier, said it started the challenge to allow design students to produce marketable furniture.

The second stage of the contest will take place at the spring High Point Market and be determined by which product receives the most written orders.

Piao's Comfort Zone rocking chair integrates a rocking chair motion into a leisure chair, a press release said, and uses recycled materials.

Bualoy's Xylophone Table, a multipurpose coffee table or bench, was inspired by the Thai xylophone and is accented with teak branches for a natural look.

The challenge was started in 2010 and is co-sponsored by IMC Properties.

Schools that have participated in the challenge include Appalachian State University, The Art Institute in Las Vegas, The University of Georgia, Auburn University, The University of Idaho, Purdue University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, KMITL in Thailand, and North Carolina State.