INDD Students Tackle Industry Challenges During 24-Hour Design Sprint

by Stacy Daniel

Matte black sports car with red accents, aggressive front grille, LED headlights, and Black Widow branding on a dark, smoky background.

Eight Industrial Design (INDD) students transformed real-world industry challenges into developed, thoughtful design concepts during a fast-paced, 24-hour sprint held July 23 and 24 at Urban Studio in Birmingham.

Students in the School of Industrial and Graphic Design (SIGD) worked in pairs with three Birmingham-based companies—Fox Factory, ExpoDisplays and Peak Season Furniture—and Hirschfeld, based in Cornelius, North Carolina. An Auburn alumnus who works remotely for Hirschfeld participated in the sprint.

Collection of hand-drawn and digital sketches showing different views, angles, and measurements of a modern armchair design.
The students worked through multiple design iterations to come up with their final idea.

Representatives from each company presented a focused design brief, advised the students throughout the process and reviewed their final concepts. The project challenged students to research unfamiliar subjects, make decisions under pressure and clearly communicate their ideas.

Benjamin Bush, INDD Program Chair and Bauhaus Associate Professor, developed the sprint as an accessible way for design professionals and alumni to work with students.

Two cushioned chairs sit on a green lawn in front of a modern glass house, with a large tree casting shadows on the grass.
Peak Season Furniture challenged the students to design an outdoor char that could be white-labeled for retailers.

Traditional industry-sponsored studio projects can require a semester-long commitment, which may be difficult for working professionals. The sprint condensed that experience into a short, intensive format while still giving students direct industry guidance.

“The better I get to know our alumni, the more I realize that we have a high level of top design talent down the road in Birmingham,” Bush said. “Engaging in this kind of project just sounds like a win-win situation to me.”

A person watches four college football games on a large screen at a Celsius booth, with Celsius drinks and a tablet displayed on the counter.
Hirschfeld tasked the students with creating an interactive display that could be a pop-up opportunity for Celsius at different college football games.

The companies developed briefs that were focused enough for the time limit but comprehensive enough to produce meaningful work. Hirschfeld asked students to create a traveling college football game-day activation for an energy-drink brand, while Peak Season Furniture challenged them to develop a chair that could be white-labeled for a major outdoor retailer.

INDD students Addison Moyer and Lucie Schauer worked with ExpoDisplays to design a speculative trade show exhibit using Gaines Family Farmstead, a dog wellness company, as the featured brand. Their concept combined product education with interactive opportunities for visitors to purchase or win dog treats.

“Having easy communication with industry professionals helped a lot with the quick-paced design process,” Moyer said. “We were able to share our early ideas and receive really helpful insights and feedback within a quick time frame.”

Trade show booth with farm-themed decor, including a barn facade, windmill, dog statue, and staff interacting with visitors among pet food displays.
Moyer and Schauer proposed an interactive exhibit featuring kibble-themed games, a large central counter and a lounge for Gaines Family Farmstead.
Top-down view of a small exhibit space with distinct seating areas, greenery, directional arrows, and informational displays arranged on a square wooden floor.
In the exhibit, visitors circulate a central windmill to learn about the company’s ethos and products.

INDD students Rachel Hu and Vanson Dong worked with the Fox Factory design team to develop a “Black Widow” customization package for the 2026 Dodge Charger. Because neither student had experience with automotive modifications, they used online resources and artificial intelligence tools to research the industry and quickly visualize ideas.

“We intentionally explored a wider range of modifications, knowing it would be easier to simplify our designs later than to start with too little and struggle to add meaningful features,” Hu said.

A black sports car with red accents is shown, half rendered as a realistic image and half as a line drawing, viewed from the front left angle.
INDD student Rachel Hu combined sketches and renderings to represent her ideas for the 2026 Dodge Charger with Fox Factory.

For Hu, presenting the final concept was the most rewarding part of the experience. The sprint reinforced a lesson she expects to carry into future projects.

“Design is an iterative process, and concepts are constantly refined and improved upon,” she said.

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Community Engagement, Student Experience, Student Work, Urban Studio

Related people:
Benjamin Bush