Target selects Philadelphia University students' ideas to sell in stores

EAST FALLS (WPVI) -- Four designs have been selected from a studio class at Philadelphia University, made by students for students, to be part of Target's Back to School line.

Target and product design firm Umbra selected the winners.

They were looking for innovative solutions for dorm-living.

Industrial Design student Chloe Muller designed The Roo, a laundry bag that hooks over your door and converts into a shoulder bag with a Velcro strap.

"We actually train our students to be very attentive to the needs of people, watch what people do, watch how people live in their space," Mike Leonard, Academic Dean of the School of Design and Engineering, said.

Samuel Pawlak's desk organizer, the Cacti, has been flying off the shelves at a rate of about 2,000 a week.

"Our phone, our wallet, and our keys are the three essentials that we take out of our room. I thought how I could bring that all together because there's not really anything out there that holds all that," Pawlak said.

Anthony Maladra's decorative organizer, The Trig Pegglet Pinboard, is for your wall. Maladra paid special attention to get the hooks just right to post a variety of objects, pictures and documents.

"I took this concept from a napkin sketch on a piece of 8.5 by 11 and worked it all the way through," Maladra said.

The Bunky bed stand by Nick Friez solves the problem of where to put your phone and tablet if you don't have a nightstand.

You can thread your chargers through its openings and everything stays within reach.

"The bottom slides under the mattress and then comes up along the bedside and it's a little stand where you can put your phones, tablets, books," Friez said.

Having their designs sold at Target stores is certainly a resume builder; it's also a money maker for the students as they're getting royalties for their products.

Plus, it's pretty cool.

"I never realized I'd actually get to make a product and have it in stores," Friez said.

"Amazing opportunity for the kids," Lynn Godley, Associate Professor of Industrial Design at Philadelphia University, said.