The American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC) encourages creativity in textile and product design by offering cash and prizes to top student designers. The Concept 2 Consumer® Student Design Competition for 2010—themed “Summer Bling!”—garnered 70 entries from 16 schools.

The Summer Bling! Competition gives students the challenge of creating a fabric or product design for pool and beachwear, based on the summer color palettes from Pantone® View Colour Planner Summer 2010 ‘Magic.’ Each design collection incorporated “bling”—three-dimensional surface embellishments ranging from beading and embroidery to knotting and smocking.

Ten finalists will be announced on March 12, 2010, and will be eligible for first-place cash awards of U.S. $1,000. Second-place prizes are U.S. $500 in both the fabric and product design categories.