Product Design student wins POPAI Student Design Award

Congratulations to Ravensbourne BA (Hons) Product Design student, Gurjit Choda, for winning the industry-renowned POPAI Student Design Award 2020 for ‘Simple Support’, a pop-up store concept for the skincare brand Simple.

POPAI is an industry association which promotes best practice in retail and works to improve shopper experience. It holds the Student Design Awards every year, and winning the prize is highly regarded throughout the industry.

Gurjit’s winning design received particular praise from judges for its attention to detail on branding and for catering to the customer ‘at every opportunity’. It was designed to provide a safe and welcoming environment for skin and haircare experts to advise Simple’s teenage customers.

The sleek design features curved shelving to showcase the brand’s products and a sink so customers can get hands-on with them. Judges were also impressed with its use of QR codes, which allow young customers to access more information at their own leisure.

The POPAI judges said: "A well thought-through and very ‘on brand’ customer experience. The customer has been considered at every opportunity, including the use of QR for an even more personalised experience."

Gurjit’s win marks the first time a student from Ravensbourne has won the award. We would also like to congratulate our other students who were shortlisted for the award, who include Jenny Chen, Aalisha Fearon, Anvam Nagpal, Calum Gambril, Wictor Topczyji, Alex Simon and the late Jamie Johnson.

Gurjit commented on the win, “Winning POPAI has been a great experience and has boosted my confidence within my own work. The competition opened my eyes to a new type of design and I thoroughly enjoyed the process. In addition, the prize money was very beneficial and will be put to good use.”

Co-Course Leader of BA (Hons) Product Design, Nadine Bennett, added, “We are very proud of this cohort of young product designers and the success they have achieved in this competition.  They really listened to tutors and industry experts to help take their design thinking forward, creating some very relevant and 'head turning' designs solutions.  This is the first time a Ravensbourne student has won this competition, well done Gurjit!”

Congratulations to Gurjit on this impressive achievement. You can read an interview took with POPAI on their website.