Aussie entrepreneurs and inventors have been recognised in this year’s Good Design Awards, held on 28 May at the White Bay Cruise Terminal in Balmain.
Products including Hega – peg with a hook – Minbie silicone baby’s teat and the Gesture chair were among the winners of the night.
Dr Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia, says that at this year’s awards and Good Design Festival the focus was on how design can play a key role in helping business, manufacturers and service providers thrive in a competitive marketplace.
“So many products in this year’s program were clearly born from a planned and considered design process that sought to not only create a beautiful, stylish and functional product or service, but also address business and commercial challenges to help the business grow and prosper,” he says.
“It’s great to see so many companies investing in design in this way and maintaining such a high standard. This year we were proud to recognise 77 products with a Good Design Award.”
The simple yet practical Heg, designed by South Australian inventor Scott Boocock, won the Good Design Award Best in Category (housewares and objects). It has dual hooks to maximise hanging space, an ergonomic grip for ease of use and a unique lock-out system to hold washing taut on the clothesline.
“A clever little product that has been carefully designed to offer additional functionality to the everyday clothes peg,” said the judges. “The designers took a nifty idea and resolved it beautifully. The material selection, manufacturing process and ergonomics of this product are perfect. It goes to show that good design can still bring joy to everyday products.”
Minbie is a soft silicone baby’s teat designed by I-Sip Minbie and Ideation Design to help develop a newborn’s instinctive breastfeeding technique, and won Best in Category babies and children. It is a significant breakthrough in the approach of industrial design to bottle feeding, according to the judges.
“This is a very unique design for one of the most challenging of end-users. The Minbie has been carefully crafted with intensive research and testing to ensure the end product is the best it can be. The innovation here is really about how the function of this product follows the form. Every tiny detail on this product has been very purposely designed to be in exactly the right place. This is a breakthrough product.”
Gesture Chair designed by Steelcase won the furniture and lighting category.
“Our work environment has changed significantly over the years with the introduction of new technologies and tools. This is the first time designers have factored these considerations into the product development process. The outcome is a beautifully resolved and extremely functional office chair,” the judges commented.
The program’s top prize – 2014 Good Design Award of the Year – went to Australian bathroom maker Caroma for its Caroma Marc Newson Bathroom 22-piece collection.
