DAVIS, Calif. — Women's volleyball alumna
Ally Reyes was a member of a group of three UC Davis design students that recently took home first place out of 500 entries from top design schools and universities nationwide in the Brand X Challenge, a national experience design competition for undergraduate design, architecture, and marketing students.
The Challenge invites students to design an experiential activation for a real company which, for 2020, featured personal care and beauty icon Sephora. The De3ign Girls, consisting of Reyes, Fiona Micoleau, and Isabella Shmelev, were awarded $5,000 and paid internship positions with either MAS Event + Design or Sephora for their winning submission: (em)POWERED by Beauty, a Sephora pop-up that celebrated beauty and diversity by showcasing how power and technology have empowered a generation and a global makeup community.
"Their first place award says a great deal about their UC Davis education and spirit of collaboration, particularly during this time when all of their interactions had to occur virtually," said Timothy McNeil, a professor in the UC Davis Department of Design and director of the UC Davis Design Museum, who worked closely with the group on their submission. "This is a highly competitive challenge against 500 of the top design schools and universities in the nation — it's a significant accomplishment.
"Designing branded environments requires understanding the product, the audience for the product, what will engage the audience and ultimately what will become a memorable experience. The team combined their talents in communication, marketing, and design to create a fun, engaging experience."
Despite the added hurdle of having to collaborate from afar due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which necessitated UC Davis spring quarter classes to be held remotely, it was almost a "meant to be" moment for Reyes, Micoleau, and Shmelev, who met during a UC Davis Design in Europe study abroad program in the summer of 2019. The program had the group visit multiple cities in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to study exhibition and experience design.
Working closely with professionals in the field, the group was challenged to produce experiences or interactions at every stop, gaining knowledge with each interaction that greatly influenced their final winning product.
"The funny thing is that none of us knew what experience design even was before last summer," Reyes remembered. "We were exposed to so many museums, exhibits, technology, and interactions, during our time there and were able to learn so much about the subject.
"Fiona, Isabella, and I instantly cliqued and remained close friends ever since. We each brought different strengths to the table with Isabella and I being design majors and Fiona being a communications major, focused in marketing/branding."
Fast forward to the spring where that camaraderie carried over into their Zoom classroom, where online check-ins were frequent as the team smoothed out any kinks in their design and concept.
According to Reyes, the Brand X Challenge was to design an experience that would accompany "Sephoria" — a yearly event put on by Sephora — that held to the company's brand values and had its "We Belong to Something Beautiful" campaign manifesto at its core.
"There were also a lot of elements we had to check boxes for like interactions, social moments, influencer participation, VIP packages, social media plans, and more," Reyes said. "This design was intended to travel so we also had to incorporate the major cities it would visit in some way.
"The cool part of this project was that you could essentially make it anything that you thought best fit what Sephora's brief was trying to encompass. For my team and I, we knew the manifesto was a huge piece of what Sephora wanted in this experience and we stayed true to that while adding our own commentary on it."
Their concept (linked above) centered around "power" in both central theme and aesthetic, featuring multiple power-themed interactive rooms that looked to capture the essence of, "bright lights, screens, neon, lighting, fuel, movement, transportation, and technology," among others.
"We wanted to show that beauty comes in all forms, just like power," Reyes said. "We also sought to comment on the power of social media and technology and how that has led to the growth of the beauty industry and has championed inclusivity in the community."
Now, Reyes looks to the future with the first step coming in the form of an internship with MAS Event + Design based out of Brooklyn, N.Y., while their project will be featured in a future issue of Event Marketer Magazine.
"I could not be more excited to learn from such an established company who works with some of the world's biggest brands in an up-and-coming industry like experiential design and event marketing," Reyes said. "I hope that this opportunity will get my foot in the door and help me build connections to people, companies, and clients in the design world.
"Whatever happens, I know this was a huge step in the direction I want to go with my career and this win has allowed me to start my career off in a great spot. Getting to intern for such a successful company is going to make networking and building connections much easier than it would have been otherwise. I am so excited to see where it may lead."
ABOUT UC DAVIS
Providing a small-town community feel while providing a world-class academic experience, UC Davis is home to more than 37,000 students and centrally located between San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, and the Napa Valley. The No. 5-ranked public university in the nation according to the Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education, and among the top 15 public universities nationwide according to U.S. News and World Report, UC Davis offers nearly 100 graduate programs and more than 100 academic majors across four colleges and six professional schools, ranking among the world and nation's best in numerous disciplines, including veterinary science, agriculture, and plant and animal programs.
AGGIE EVO
Launched in 2017-18, the Aggie EVO System is UC Davis Athletics' investment in the primary mission of preparing student-athletes for a successful "launch" after graduation. Thanks to a collaboration of alumni, university resources, corporate partners, coaches and Student-Athlete Outcomes staff, all Aggies are guided over four years to acquire the skills, knowledge, opportunities and tools to better know and navigate the "World of Work" after graduating from UC Davis. Follow the Aggie EVO system on Twitter and Instagram at @AggieEVO.
