Do you know a startup or are you one with limited funds that could benefit from innovative product or graphic design to take your business to the next level?

To help support innovators and entrepreneurs in Alabama, the Auburn Technical Assistance Center at Auburn University has partnered with Auburn’s School of Industrial and Graphic Design (SIGD) to provide design assistance to a few promising startups that can create jobs and increase sales as a result of the assistance.

Auburn’s Industrial Design’s graduate and undergraduate programs are ranked in the top ten degree programs nationally by DesignIntelligence. HOW Magazine, a highly respected graphic design publication, includes SIGD’s Graphic Design Program in its list of top design education programs in the country. The School’s design program has recently helped nationally known companies solve their product and design challenges including Emerson, Rubbermaid, and Vanity Fair.

Now with funding support from the Economic Development Administration, this assistance normally valued at over $25,000 per company is available to Alabama startups. Three up and coming startups have already been helped with design challenges including:

• Medsnap [Link],
• ArchPatent [Link],
• Alignment Simple Solutions Case Study.

How does the program work?
Each startup selected will commit to a semester long design studio; beginning in either January or August. The selected startup(s) will:

• Travel to Auburn University five times during the semester to work with students on design needs and concept reviews throughout the semester.
• Provide up to $500 in project support

Approximately 15 of the most creative students on campus will be working on your design challenge and will provide you with more than 100 initial concepts to select from before refining 15 concepts that you select by the end of the semester.

To be considered for the program, your startup must be:

• Beyond proof-of-concept stage and ready for seed investment
• Be located in Alabama
• Have a tangible product (with human interaction) or software design or be in need of graphic design that would help create new sales and jobs.

If your startup meets these requirements, please complete the following information “HERE” on our website. You will be contacted to further discuss the program.

September 24, 2014