Mannington Announces Tx:style Winner During NeoCon

The winner will see her design produced in six different colorways by the carpet manufacturer in early 2010.

Laurel Petriello -- Interior Design, 6/17/2009

Six twenty-something designers have bitten their nails in anticipation this season for the announcement of the winning design in Mannington’s inaugural Tx:style competition. The wait came to an end yesterday afternoon at Chicago’s Merchandise Mart on the second day of the NeoCon World’s Trade Fair.

The honor went to Meagan Webb, a young healthcare interior designer from Nashville, Tennessee, for her “Squareberry” design, which was inspired by flora and geometric patterns in nature she encounters on regular hikes and outdoor runs. As winner of the competition, Webb will see her design produced in six different colorways by the carpet manufacturer launching in early 2010, in addition to receiving a $7,500 prize.

After garnering almost half a million votes over a web-based, social media platform, Mannington announced they will continue the Tx:style design competition next year, and even expand the program to include other opportunities for product generation, collaborative design development, and customer feedback.

“Tx:style has been the most successful online social networking of its kind in our industry, and looking forward we see huge potential for opening up product design up to the public and engaging designers for immediate feedback,” says Natalie Jones, vice president of commercial brand development and creative product. “The transparency that the competition made possible, as well as new ways to collaborate with designers, has been inspiring.”

Photography by Mary Clare Glabowicz.