INDIANAPOLIS

Sponsored by Meredith Corporation and Presented by the Delta® Brand
School of the Art Institute of Chicago Students Honored at Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio

DES MOINES, Iowa / CHICAGO (August 14, 2009) – At a reception last night at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home & Studio in Oak Park, Ill., winners were announced for the Designers of Tomorrow contest, a design competition for students of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) sponsored by Meredith Corporation and presented by the Delta® brand.

Grand prize winner Rebecca Midden will receive a $5,000 scholarship from Meredith Corporation.  The two runners-up, Garrett EB Smith and Egla Tafesse, will each receive a $500 scholarship. The scholarships will be paid to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and applied toward the tuition of the winning students. Winning designs will also be published in the November 2009 issues of Better Homes and Gardens and Traditional Home; the November/December 2009 issue of Midwest Living; and the December 2009/January 2010 issue of Readymade.

“It’s an honor to support the Designers of Tomorrow contest,” said Steve Levinson, Group Publisher, Meredith Corporation.  “Meredith Corporation is proud to feature these talented, young designers in upcoming pages of our home and shelter publications, which reach millions of Americans each month.”

“The Designers of Tomorrow contest provided a great occasion for Delta to engage with the next generation of designers,” said Judd Lord, director of industrial design, Delta Faucet Company. “In turn, it also offered the students a unique opportunity to interact with leading professionals, including their professors, highly-regarded designers and the editors whose words help shape the industry.”

The Designers of Tomorrow contest invited current and continuing SAIC students to propose an original and innovative use of one or more Delta® brand products in a residential environment beyond the traditional kitchen and bathroom applications. Students were also asked to create an original three dimensional representation of the design. Entries were judged according to the innovative use of Delta® brand products, overall creativity and innovation and prominence of Delta® brand products in the design.

Rebecca Midden’s grand prize winning submission—entitled Spout—is a hydroponic watering system designed to cultivate gardens on balconies in Chicago or other urban areas.  With the twist of one faucet handle, recycled rainwater flows from numerous Delta faucets to water hanging plants.  A flowerbed below is maintained by water run off from the hanging plants, ensuring a beautiful, lush garden and happy neighbors downstairs.

The first runner-up winner is Garrett Smith who infused new life into the ball valve that Delta Faucets has used as the basis of its faucets since 1954.  Because of the new innovations Delta has developed for its current collections, the ball valve has become essentially obsolete. Garrett reinvents this once vital plumbing part as a Dreidel designed to provide hours of entertainment and recycle parts that would otherwise have no use beyond a replacement part.

Egla Tafesse—the second runner-up winner—developed numerous applications for Delta Faucets throughout the home that combine water, light, sound and art together.  Whether it’s the separation shower and planter for the bedroom, a vegetable planter for the kitchen or a standard kitchen faucet with additional lighting, her vision incorporates Delta products in all areas of the home.

The contest’s moderating jury included: Judd Lord, director of industrial design, Delta Faucet Company; Eva Quateman, Eva Quateman Interiors in Chicago; Mick de Giulio, de Giulio kitchen design in Chicago; May Hawfield, owner of May Hawfield Design in Chicago and adjunct associate professor in the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Jennifer Nemec, founder and principal, Ideation Studio Inc.; Jim Termeer, product designer and full-time assistant professor in the Department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Carol Schalla, senior home editor, Midwest Living Magazine; Amy Elbert, architecture editor, Traditional Home Magazine and Kit Selzer, senior editor, remodeling, Better Homes and Gardens magazine.