Academy Student Ah-young Jeon wins Pottery Barn Design Competition

Academy of Art University student Ah-young Jeon may live in the city, but her thoughts were of country life when she designed her nature-inspired mug that recently won a Pottery Barn competition.  The victory landed her $1,000 and the opportunity to have her mug displayed at Potter Barn stores across the nation.

Jeon’s mug was hand selected by the president of Pottery Barn, and will be sold at Pottery Barn stores and websites starting in 2008.   The win not only offers Jeon the opportunity to display her work, but also the recognition of a write up that will praise the student and the Academy of Art University in all of the design credits.

A Pottery Barn design team representative described Jeon’s mug as a “product that our customer can relate to and want to purchase.  It was innovative, clever, and whimsical, with nature at its heart.”

Jeon, who is a junior at the Academy, used principles she learned in her Ceramics 1 and Wheel Formed Sculpture classes to design the piece, which shows a mother bird watching over her nest of eggs.

“I particularly enjoy using nature as the central theme of many of my pieces.  Living in the city can tend to make things cloudy and busy, so I think having a sculpted piece of nature is great to look at,” Jeon said.