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Ferris Graphic Design Student Team Places Second in National Competition

Brand XA team of Ferris State University Graphic Design students placed second in the Brand X Experience Design Student Competition.

Brand X is a national competition for college or university undergraduate design and marketing students. The event’s stated goal IS to: “Expose students to the creative challenges of ‘experience design,’ a fun and growing segment of the design industry and one of the fastest-growing job sectors for design professionals.” This year, Brand X participants developed a hypothetical marketing campaign for Under Armour’s sponsorship of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Russia.

Jeff Ek, a College of Business faculty member and coordinator of the Graphic Design program, was thrilled with the achievement of the team of juniors: Haley Hawes, of Cedar Springs; team captain Ashley Kasul, of Rockford; Brandon Knap, of Hudsonville; and Alex Papin, of Whitmore Lake.

The Graphic Design program faculty members are extremely proud of this junior design team and their accomplishment,” Ek said. “They are applying what they’ve learned in a design curriculum that includes marketing and business practice. We can't wait to see what THEY ARE capable of next year as seniors.”

For its second-place finish in the competition, the Ferris team earned a $2,000 prize.

Brand X was created by George P. Johnson Experience Marketing. GPJ helps its clients strengthen their brands through experience design. The annual Brand X competition provides a platform for students to design a hypothetical experience for a real-world company. The 2013 competition client was Under Armour, a sports apparel company. Managing the entry process and communications with the students were the editors of Event Marketer magazine and Event Design magazine.