Groovystuff to Highlight Student Designer

March 21, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Outdoor Furniture on March 22, 2012 Reclaimed teak furniture vendor Groovystuff will continue its efforts to encourage young design talent this spring with Brent Dutton's Pathos Patio Collection.

The collection designed by Dutton, an industrial design student from Auburn University, will be on display at Dallas-based Groovystuff's High Point Furniture Market showroom, space G-1025 in The Suites at Market Square.

DALLAS, TX €“ Groovystuff announces a new product collection from Auburn University, Industrial Design Student, Brent Dutton at the High Point Market, April 21-26, 2012, The Suites at Market Square, Showroom: G-1025, High Point, NC. 

Pathos is one of the many new Groovystuff products aiming to provide retailers with designs to fill the trend gap between emerging young adults and established consumers, at a price point that is attractive to this emerging demographic and with the style points to attract more established consumers.

The Pathos Patio Chair was designed to take the grittiness of the old organic movement and soften the look for a more elegant and sophisticated product. Antique, reclaimed-teak wagon wheel rims provide the framework for the chair; and a flat lacquer finish softens the contrast between the reclaimed teak and the chrome joinery.

Groovystuff President Chris Bruning developed the Groovystuff Design Challenge as an industry-sponsored student design competition to foster connections between students and the home furnishings market. Undergraduates from Appalachian State University, Auburn University, The Art Institute of Las Vegas, The University of Georgia, Purdue University, University of Idaho, and others, have participated in this design competition that includes a chance at cash prizes, permanent royalties for life, and an opportunity to have selected student designs manufactured as part of the celebrity endorsed Dick Idol Brand Collections.

The Pathos Patio Chair by Brent Dutton was the popular vote winner at the fall 2011 High Point market and was the first product to be produced from the fall 2011 Auburn University Groovystuff Design Challenge.

"Our goal with this competition was to provide students with a platform for creativity and encourage them to embrace the home furnishings industry," Bruning said. "Sales are where the rubber meets the road, and viral media portals like Facebook, along with feedback from market attendees during the design phase, helped shape these goods into a product line that hits the market at the right price and fits perfectly into the Gen X, Gen Y market category we were targeting."