The annual PAVE Student Design Competition promotes “real-world” design experience for college-level students around the world who want to work in the design industry.

Students from all over the world are invited to take part in designing and improving a mobile/pop-up guest experience for City Relief, which will connect friends and guests in need with much-needed resources while also creating an equitable sense of place for friends and neighborhoods.

Your vision should be a transformative experience based on strong design concept development, defining a unique and supportive guest experience, and celebrating a flexible, sustainable, and buildable project to support the idea of a pop-up “Third Place.”

For 2025, The Hershey Company invites students to design an innovative Store-within-a-Store (SWAS) snacking destination inside a traditional grocery store. Concepts should leverage Hershey’s iconic family of brands while creating engaging, immersive shopping experiences through cutting-edge technology, lighting, sensory design, and micro-occasions like s’mores, movie nights, or cultural celebrations

Important details:

• Organizer: PAVE Global
• In Collaboration with: City Relief
• Sponsored by: edesign
• Deadlines: October 30, 2025 – 11:59 EST (Afghanistan Time: October 31, 2025 – 01:29 AM)
• Program Gala date: December 11, 2025
• Location: New York City, New York, USA

Prizes & Benefits:

The top 3 ideas will be rewarded:

• $4,000 USD per person*
• Each of the winning students’ educators will receive $1,000 USD to attend the program.
• Students will be invited to the PAVE Gala in New York City (travel expenses paid), where they will be recognized for their accomplishments.
• Students may even be able to work alongside one of the industry’s top design and manufacturing teams to bring their ideas to life.

Note: Prizes for two-person teams will be shared equally between the two team members.

Eligibility Criteria:

• This annual international competition is only open to current* undergraduate and graduate-level college students pursuing careers in retail planning, visual merchandising, interior design/architecture, branding, graphic design, UX/UI design, industrial design, and other related fields.
• If you are unsure whether your field of study is eligible, please get in touch with PAVE at info@paveglobal.org.
• To be eligible to participate, your graduation date must be after the project deadline of October 30, 2025.

Submission requirements:

Submissions must be presented as PDF files in 11 x 17-inch landscape format and limited to 10 single-sided pages, excluding the cover and reference pages.

Entries should clearly address the design brief’s requirements, with the scale and composition determined by the participant. Renderings may be hand-drawn or digitally produced.

The use of AI tools is permitted for ideation, visualization, and prototyping, provided that all AI contributions are clearly documented in the final submission.

Evaluation will focus on the quality, clarity, and storytelling strength of the renderings.

This is an individual competition; group submissions are not accepted. Entrants must ensure that no identifying information, such as name or school, appears on any part of the submission materials.

How to apply?

By Sunday, October 30, 2025, at 11:59 PM Eastern, all projects must be submitted via the Submittable platform (New York)

Apply Now

​Students who register early will receive success tips, inspiration, deadline reminders, and other useful messages throughout the competition period.

Judging Criteria (Blind Review by Industry Professionals):

• 15% – Design Concept: Creativity, originality, and inspiration.

• 25% – Space Solution: Layout, flow, and cohesive storytelling that connects concept to brand.

• 25% – Interior/Architectural Design: Style, materials, lighting, and merchandise display.

• 25% – Branding: Logo, graphics, signage, and tech integration.

• 10% – Presentation Quality: Professionalism and clarity of visuals.

Read the competition brief carefully to learn about submission guidelines.

For more information, please go to the official website of the PAVE 2025 Competition.

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• East-West Center Graduate Degree Fellowship in the USA
• MCW Young Leadership Fellowship for Aspiring Young Change Makers
• Creative Arts Scholarship at James Cook University in Australia
• TU Delft Excellence MSc Scholarship 2023/24 in the Netherlands [Fully-Funded]