Student Standouts

Student designers in the Cleveland Institute of Art’s Interior Architecture program showed off their work during the school’s annual Spring Design Show, which was held in April at the city’s striking Museum of Contemporary Art. From sophisticated renderings to comprehensive brand experiences, these budding (and in demand, according to department head Michael Gollini) retail designers presented architectural, functional and spatial designs for retail, restaurants and corporate environments. Three CIA graduates are among VMSD’s 2014 Designer Dozen awards winners: Maria Kuehn ’02, Michael Munchoff ’07, and Matthew Rush ’08.

Meanwhile, at the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning, interior design students presented their final projects during DAAPworks, an annual student showcase. Senior Emma Conway grabbed top honors for her final project, titled “Warp + Weft.” Her design for a collaborative fiber studio featured a suspended, handspun yarn display and vertical, pre-made dye baths for patrons shopping for yarn or hanging out in a spinning lounge. Conway says the idea grew out of her own interests: “I’ve always been an avid knitter, but there’s nothing in Cincinnati that caters to a younger group,” she says.