Montie Design Hosting Student Design Contest for Outdoor Gear

Montie Design Hosting Student Design Contest for Outdoor Gear

Prizes of Up to $500, Commission on Product Sales to Be Awarded

(Morrisville, N.C.) Collaborative product design and development firm Montie Design is hosting a student design contest for Winter 2011 with prizes of up to $500 and a two-year commission on any products that go to market within two years of design submission.

Participants are being tasked with designing a new product for the Montie Gear line of outdoor shooting, hunting, and archery products which grew out of the success the firm has enjoyed with its X-Rest line of portable firearms rests.

“We’ve found there is an incredible amount of interest in sturdy, lightweight portable gear for hunters and other folks who enjoy camping, backpacking, hiking, and outdoor shooting sports,” Montie Roland, president of Montie Design, said.

The X-Rest originated as a hands-on, intensive review of product design and manufacturing for Montie Design staff, Roland said, but soon took on a life of its own once the original version was made available for sale.

“Once we marketed the product outside of the product design world, in the firearms and outdoors industry, that’s when things started to roll,” he said.

The design contest is generating buzz and support in academic institutions throughout North Carolina. According to Donald Corey, Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at Appalachian State University, anytime a student can develop a product for a “real world” application, their educational experience is heightened.

“The fact that the winning product might go into production multiplies their intensity for making the project feasible and successful,” he said, adding, “For the winners the benefit is immediately evident in their resumes and portfolios.”

Prof. Corey went on to explain that in this job market anything a student can do to increase their visibility to a potential employer is helpful. “Winning this contest, and having the piece produced and available for sale will really impress these potential employers, making often difficult hiring decisions easier,” he said.

Montie Design enjoys a strong relationship with the NCSU College of Design as well as industry groups for students, such as the Industrial Designers Society of America. The firm regularly hosts interns who engage in differing hands-on activities from concept to design to prototyping, manufacturing and marketing.

Laura Taylor, president of the NC State Student Chapter of IDSA, worked with Montie Design to conceptualize the design contest. Taylor, a senior from Charlotte, said the contest will help energize the IDSA membership and provide sought-after challenges for participants.

“This is a great opportunity to learn what real design looks like, stretching beyond the concepts we are familiar with in the studio,” she said.

According to Taylor, the contest gives design students the chance to see what it takes to be a real designer. “It moves past pleasing professors and focuses more on addressing the needs of the real market and pleasing the client,” she said.

The design contest is open to current college students from across the United States beginning December 1, 2010. January 18, 2011 is the deadline for submitting a description of basic product concept; the final design proposal is due on February 17, 2011 at 5:00PM EST. Submission information and other contest specifications are available on the Montie Design website, www.montie.com.

Download the Contest Flyer

About Montie Design
Montie Design is a collaborative product design and development firm with core competencies in industrial design, mechanical design and fuzzy front end services. Implementing a client-centric approach in taking products from concept to marketplace, Montie Design balances vision with usability in realizing products that are economical to manufacture, elegant and robust. The firm operates out of the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina with access to industry-leading technology, resources and innovative thought. For more information, visit www.montie.com.