College of Human Sciences apparel merchandising, design and production management students show love for Auburn through unique design challenge

College of Human Sciences Dean Susan Hubbard attended the design challenge and praised the students for their designs while also noting this is another high impact practice the college prides itself on.

“This is quickly becoming one of the favorite things to see in the college and it’s so encouraging,” said Hubbard. “This is an opportunity for a high impact practice, and it is a little bit of the real world and similar to what you will be doing when you are in your jobs, representing Auburn and making us so proud. We look forward to having you present as if you were presenting to that first client or a company you will be working with.”

These unique designs were wide-ranging that featured plenty of orange and navy but even pink and green for the love of the beautiful florals and landscaping throughout Auburn’s campus. A variety of eagle and tiger logos, Aubie’s, silhouette Auburn logos, references of Auburn’s sports teams, Toomer’s Corner and more were shown on wearable items such as scarves and pocket squares. For the Design Challenge, each student presented their designs to an audience of faculty members and invited guests who served as judges to vote on their favorite designs.

Zeke Dance, a sophomore majoring in apparel design and production management, said he took the time to reflect on what he loves about Auburn and the beauty on campus is where he got his inspiration.

“My design was based on the inspiration I took from the azaleas on Auburn’s campus and the tiger,” said Dance. “My absolute favorite part was kind of pinpointing what it was that solidified my love of Auburn. I always hoped that I would find a place in Auburn and find where I fit in, but I didn’t completely know where that would be. When I finally settled in, I was able to just appreciate the world around me here and that was really special.”

Dance also spoke about the 3D design process and how he continued to get more familiar with the design software.

“The 3D process was so cool,” said Dance. “We used Optitex 3D software and that was something I never used before. It was a little stressful at first, but I look forward to using it in the future. You design your flat design, and then you can download that to your computer and then upload it directly to the software where it then creates the scarf. From there, you can fine tune all the design such as adding borders and things like that.”

The design challenge was created by the College of Human Sciences Advancement team who worked in collaboration with the CADS department to give students a real-world opportunity. The students were tasked with creating and presenting an original textile that could be used to benefit departments and highlight the extraordinary talent within the college. Following the judication process, students will have the opportunity to incorporate judges’ feedback into their designs, and one or two of the best textile patterns will be printed for real wearable products.

Cady Triplett, a sophomore majoring in apparel design and production management, used Aubie as an inspiration for her designs.

“I took inspiration from J&M Bookstore and the different Aubie prints that they have for sale, and I decided to make my own Aubie motifs,” said Triplett. “I played club soccer, so I did a soccer Aubie, a fashion designer Aubie and an Auburn fan Aubie which was all really fun and personal to me. I repeated those three Aubie’s and made a fabric swatch.”

“I think today was really awesome,” added Triplett. “I was unaware that it was going to be such a fun and memorable day getting to meet all the faculty and visitors. Getting to present here in the library was another one of my favorite parts of this project.”