Faculty and staff in the Department of Apparel, Design and Hospitality Management have announced the winners of the NDSU Tartan Design Contest. Kelly Nelson, a sophomore majoring in apparel, retail merchandising and design, received first place with 44 percent of the online votes. Andrea Golen, a sophomore majoring in interior design, earned second with 33 percent and Alissa Heinze, a junior in apparel, retail merchandising and design, placed third with 22.5 percent. More than 12,500 votes were cast online by 10 p.m. on Feb. 25. Awards of $500, $300 and $200, respectively, will be awarded to the winners.
According to Holly Bastow-Shoop, head of the apparel, design and hospitality management department, the project offered numerous educational benefits for students and faculty in the department and will continue to do so for years to come. “The students in apparel, retail merchandising and design, as well as those majoring in interior design, all have a strong design interest and it is a vital component in their selected majors. So being able to use their innate interest and skill to design a tartan that has the potential to be used as a piece in building the NDSU brand, is an exciting way to use what they are learning.”
The next step is to determine what products will use the design. Students in the apparel, retail merchandising and design capstone class are helping develop a market survey to learn which tartan products are of greatest interest to consumers. The students will distribute questionnaires and analyze the data. Apparel, retail merchandising and design and interior design students in product development classes will then use the information to design additional products on an annual basis.
Hospitality and tourism management and apparel, retail merchandising and design students who are enrolled in event planning courses will plan and implement events to introduce the tartan to the NDSU community, applying what they have learned about food selection, presentation, venue planning and event marketing. The interior design students will develop products for interiors, as well as collaborate with merchandising and promotion students to develop venues for physical display. “All of these teach students about the pipeline that begins with a design concept (the tartan) and moves through production and ultimately to the consumer,” said Bastow-Shoop. “This is a great opportunity for our students to use what they are learning and being entrepreneurial as well.”
Another benefit from the project is that the apparel, design and hospitality management department will earn some royalties from the sale of products, which will be used for student scholarships and research funding for faculty.
Nelson’s design will be federally copyrighted and also verified and reviewed for its originality by the Tartan Registry in Edinburgh, Scotland, a division of the Scottish Government, and then registered as the official tartan of NDSU. However, the university will own the tartan design.
Bastow-Shoop hopes tartan design will debut at Homecoming 2011 through products like shawls, stadium blankets, ties, vests, scarves and hats.
Nelson said it will hit her that she designed the tartan when she sees people wearing it. She’ll probably do a double take and maybe more. “If you are wearing the official NDSU tartan and see someone stop, look at you, and then start skipping...yes, that's me,” Nelson said. “In other words, it will be the best feeling in the world.”
For more information on the contest and the designs, contact Holly Bastow-Shoop at 231-8223 or holly.bastow-shoop@ndsu.edu.