June 20, 2019

Sherwin-Williams has announced the winners of its ninth Student Design Challenge, an annual competition for design students across North America. First-, second- and third-place winners were awarded, in addition to a Facebook fan favorite, who was chosen by the public. This year’s competition marked the most entries ever, with more than 750 students submitting color renderings of an interior space using a minimum of three Sherwin-Williams colors.

“Year after year, the judges and I are inspired by the level of creativity and skill our future designers evoke in their submissions,” said Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams. “It is always a pleasure and challenge to select the winners, as I love seeing how these students convey color in a variety of real-life settings using Sherwin-Williams as their palette.”

FIRST PLACE
Andre Silvestre of Suffolk University won first place in the residential category and was also the Facebook fan-favorite winner. His design, titled “A Symphony of Color,” used the 2019 Sherwin-Williams Color of the Year, Cavern Clay SW 7701, as the main inspiration in a New York City luxury condo located steps from Carnegie Hall.

“Similar to how a symphonic theme unifies a musical composition, the contrasting colors in this project create unifying elements in the apartment,” said Silvestre. “The color duo of Cavern Clay SW 7701 and Night Owl SW 7061 is presented boldly across the living room and entry walls and ceilings before subduing slightly in the dining room and into the kitchen. This primary duo is then enriched by the Ellie Gray SW 7650 of the walls and Spare White SW 6203 on the ceiling. Finally, like a musical cadenza, the kitchen is accented with the sharply contrasting color, Fabulous Grape SW 6293, in the alcove.”

SECOND PLACE
The second-place winner is Samantha Kragel of Iowa State University. The 2019 Colormix Forecast palette Wanderer served as the direct inspiration for Kragel’s project. The moment Samantha saw this palette, she began to visualize the style and mood of the project. Samantha could see this home belonging to a gatherer – someone who travels the world and collects treasures along their way. They have a free spirit, a love for botanical environments and are not afraid of bold color and pattern.

Each space has a variety of textures that keep warm and serene vibes while highlighting their special objects. The Wanderer palette inspired Samantha to pull one of the following colors – Cavern Clay SW 7701, Distance SW 6243, Caramelized SW 9186, Dark Clove SW 9183 and Origami White SW 7637 – to focus in each space, while keeping the entire palette mixed throughout.

THIRD PLACE
You Li of Savannah College of Art and Design created the House of Spring project for a family. The natural hue of Moth Wing SW 9174 is used throughout the house, which not only connects the stunning views of the outside forest but also brings a peaceful feeling and creative inspiration for users. The design follows the theory of biophilia, which reflects the fact that people’s physical and mental wellbeing remains highly contingent on contact with the natural environment.

The color scheme of Jasper Stone SW 9133 and Rocky River SW 6215 with yellow accents provides a positive emotional perception of individuals staying in the house. Green is a color that has a calming, relaxing and refreshing effect and is associated with nature, life, health, youth, hope and desire. In addition, yellow is the color of optimism and creativity and also makes the house brighter and warmer.

Submissions included the color renderings along with project statements describing the design and its use of color. The 2019 judging panel included Wadden; Patti Carpenter, principal at Carpenter + Company/Trendscope; and Martyn Lawrence Bullard, principal and owner of Martyn Lawrence Bullard Design.