Formica’s Annual Student Innovation Competition Invites Future Designers to Embrace “Newstalgia”

Formica Corporation is calling all aspiring designers to participate in the 2024 FORM Student Innovation Competition, running until March 8, 2024. This exciting competition challenges students to infuse the “Newstalgia” aesthetic, which blends retro and vintage design with a fresh, modern twist, into their furniture designs for both residential and commercial settings. The designs must incorporate two or more Formica® Laminate product colors or patterns and at least one color or pattern of FENIX® innovative materials, along with a project statement.

Prizes include a $2,000 cash award and the opportunity to have the winning design fabricated and displayed at NeoCon 2024 in Chicago for the grand prize winner. The second-place winner will receive $1,000, and the third-place winner will be awarded $500, with design renderings featured during NeoCon 2024. All top three winners will also have the chance to network with industry professionals and immerse themselves in the design community.

This competition is a modern iteration of the original “FORM: Contemporary Architects at Play” challenge from 2008, and it invites students to explore design through the decades while celebrating Formica’s 110th anniversary. Requirements for entry include filling out the submission form, providing a project statement, a color rendering of the furniture design with dimensions (no larger than 6’x6’x6′), and listing Formica Brand products used.

Formica Canada is also hosting its 7th Annual FORM Student Innovation Competition, inviting architecture and interior design students from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico to participate. The competition challenges students to interpret “newstalgia” and design furniture pieces that bridge classic and modern styles, using Formica brand products. Prizes include cash awards, national recognition at NeoCon 2024 in Chicago, and a chance to network with industry professionals.

The competition is open until March 8, 2024, with winners announced in May 2024. A panel of industry and design professionals will judge the submissions, and Formica Canada is excited to witness how participants will interpret “newstalgia” in their creations while reflecting on 110 years of design.