Piao and Bualoy Win Groovystuff Popular Vote

November 1, 2012  by in UnCategorized   

By Home Furnishings Business in Special Events on November 2, 2012

Hailong Piao and Janejira Bualoy have won the popular vote at High Point Furniture Market in the Groovystuff By Design: Connecting Education with Industry Challenge.

The student competition from reclaimed teak furniture vendor Groovystuff recognized Piao from Auburn University and Bualoy from KMITL in Bangkok, Thailand, for their innovative contributions to the home furnishings. 
 
Hailong and Janejira competed against undergraduates from their respective schools to design an environmentally-friendly product that reflects the celebrity Dick Idol Legends brand and can be produced using sustainable manufacturing practices. Students produced miniature models and product display boards for market attendees to vote on during the Fall High Point Market.
 
The "Comfort Zone" Rocking Chair by industrial design student Hailong Piao "is a leisure chair that integrates the rocking chair motion into a leisure chair.  Comfortable uses of natural and recycled materials are utilized for optimal comfort."

"When I was a child, I usually viewed the factory near my home and was always interested in the manufacturing process," he said. "My interest in manufacturing started the same time I started learning to paint. In college I began studying Industrial Design as an undergraduate and have enjoyed the process of making a "life" for the products I design and is the number one reason I came to the United States."

"Casual seating is a huge category for Groovystuff, and Hailong got the attention of the High Point market attendees with his creative use of our reclaimed parts and the marketability and versatility of his design," said Chris Bruning, founder of the Education with Industry cooperative. Bruning added that buyers also commented on the multipurpose of the design and the way the product fits into the celebrity endorsed Dick Idol Legends brand yet doesn't compete with the other licensed partners.
 
The "Xylophone Table" by Janejira Bualoy was "inspired by the Thai xylophone and is accented with teak branches giving the piece a closer feeling to nature. The Xylophone table was designed as a multipurpose coffee table or bench and features a decorative storage space."

Bualoy studies Industrial Design at KMITL and "appreciates working with wood because of the way it makes her feel comfortable, relaxed, and close to nature."
 
Dallas-based Groovystuff started a cooperative in 2010 that allows design students at some of the world's best schools to see their creations become a reality. Since its inception, nine universities have participated in the cooperative to include Appalachian State University, The Art Institute in Las Vegas, The University of Georgia, Auburn University, The University of Idaho, Purdue University, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, KMITL in Bangkok Thailand, and NC State.
 
The Groovystuff By Design: Connecting Education with Industry Challenge is a two-stage program in which winners are determined through a "Popular Vote at Market"; and then for stage two the goods are produced and the grand price winner determined by the "Most Written Orders at Market."  The competition takes place at the High Point Market, April 20-25, with additional exposure for the universities at the spring and summer Dallas and Las Vegas markets.