Emerging Design

Design42Day is a cpompany and online publication based in Milan, Italy, specialized in the research, selection and promotion of design on an international scale. As an international platform for design, it uses multiple channels to promote and communicate its activities which include an online magazine, international events, special projects, and consultancy services for companies. The company’s philosophy is based on the cornerstones of independence, meritocracy and high quality derived from functionality, aesthetics, originality and innovation.
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The Phillip Johnson team has made history with their design for the Trailfinders Australian Garden presented by Fleming's, being awarded with a 'Best in Show' medal overnight at Chelsea - a feat never before achieved by an Australian team in their nine years of taking part.
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Our online application system is up and running for all designers who would like to be selected for the July 28 Melbourne Design Market, held at Federation Square undercover carpark. It's true that there are a lot of design events out there now, but we consistently get feedback from those who attend that this event, the original design market, is the one that they depend on for a truly complete and high-quality design shopping experience.
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designEX, Australia's longest-running design and architecture event in Melbourne from 30 May to 1 June 2013. With industry-leading brands in furniture, textiles, lighting, architecture, bathrooms, surfaces & finishes, as well as seminars and workshops, independently curated features and a host of new brand alliances.
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Furnishing International has always been a stalwart supporter of the furniture industry and will continue to be so with renewed focus and direction with Editor-in-Chief, Ewan McEoin at the helm. Ewan McEoin brings hefty credentials to Furnishing International, with two decades of experience in design publishing. He has held previous positions as Editor of (inside) Interior Design Review, Creative Director of State of Design Festival and Unlimited: Designing for the Asia Pacific, as well as co-author and editor of the Melbourne and Sydney Design Guides.
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DIA Victoria Tasmania presents a stellar line-up of design aficionados and practitioners in a dynamic presentation and panel discussion evening at the Poliform showroom in Richmond.
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95 entries have been received for the Australian Institute of Architects’ 2013 Brisbane Regional Architecture Awards with winners to be announced on Friday 10 May. Cox Rayner’s One One One Eagle Street and the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law by Architectus in association with Guymer Bailey Architects are among projects entered in urban design, commercial, heritage, interior, public, residential – houses, residential – multiple housing, small project architecture and Art & Architecture categorie
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The workshop is the cornerstone of the Colourways program connecting designers, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, marketers, educators, builders, media, and others in a forum to explore ideas and emerging trends.
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The Australian Institute of Architects opposes the federal government's proposed reforms to self-education expense deductions announced by the Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer, the Hon Wayne Swan MP on 13 April.
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Over the past few months Dale Hardiman and Suzannah Henty have been organising OBJECT FUTURE, a new independent design exhibition. Conceived in response to the lack of exhibiting opportunities and inclusive design exhibitions available to emerging Australian creatives, OBJECT FUTURE seeks to create an available space for designers to showcase past, current and future work to a broad range of audiences.
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Portable is excited to announce international award-winning industrial designer Brooks Atwood will tour Australia this June. After the sell-out success of Portable's tour of Debbie Millman earlier this year, take advantage of our early bird pricing to secure your place and hear from one of the world's leading thinkers in design innovation.
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In keeping with the DIA's commitment to promote design as a profession and a core contributor to the quality of business, society and our environment, the DIA Victoria Tasmania Council is pleased to launch a new program for Continuing Professional Development.
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Two of the world’s leading minds in the business, Dan Formosa and John Barratt will discuss how design thinking has transformed leading brands and assisted them to flourish in tough economic times. They will be here in Melbourne as part of agIdeas International Design Week. The Advantage Business Breakfast will provide information on the link between design, design thinking and innovation on Thursday 2 May.
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Have you entered your design yet? The deadline is fast approaching for entries into this sustainable design competition which focuses on retail design and the emergence of the 'Pop Up' Phenomenon.
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Applications are open for this much anticipated exhibition. The theme for WS13 is: WORKSHOPPED 13: Designing a Modern Heritage. Show how your design can be future proofed for a disposable society?
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The Australian Institute of Architects is calling on Australians with a passion for promoting Australian architecture internationally as it launches its search for a Creative Director of the Australian Exhibition at the 2014 Venice Architecture Biennale.
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A premier community facility has taken out top honours in the Australian Institute of Architects' 2013 Darling Downs Regional Architecture Awards announced tonight at the Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery.
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The Jacky Winter Group & Australian Infront Present 'Field Trip' - A Creative Conference Like No Other. Returning for a victory lap for the second year in a row at ACMI, Field Trip 2013 will surely be just as great as our event last year. In other words, a potentially life changing event.
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The winners of CAPITheticAL, the international Centenary of Canberra competition to design a hypothetical Australian capital city, have come to Canberra ahead of the judges’ announcement this evening (Thursday 14 March).
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Exhibiting outside of Melbourne for the first time, the eagerly anticipated market will be held in the all-weather Rochford Pavilion, set against the picturesque backdrop of the Yarra Valley.
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2013 Newcastle Jury was led by Jury Chair and Practice Principle at McKendry-Hunt Architects, Debra McKendry, and included; Ramsey Awad, Senior Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle; Robert Donaldson, Trustee of The Architecture Foundation; Emili Fox, Director of Fox Johnston in Sydney; and Peter Johnson, former Director of EJE Architecture (retired).
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The jury of the 2013 Newcastle Architecture Awards has awarded a special prize to an exceptional Newcastle building at tonight's ceremony held at the Newcastle Museum. The Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) by SKM-S2F and Denton Corker Marshall (architects in association) was honoured with the 2013 Newcastle Jury Prize for Best Overall Contribution to Newcastle Architecture along with the Architecture Award for Public Architecture.
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A new city heart for Townsville has taken out top honours in the Australian Institute of Architects' 2013 North Queensland Regional Architecture Awards announced tonight. Flinders Street Revitalisation by Cox Rayner Architects received a Regional Commendation and the Walter and Oliver Tunbridge Award for Building of the Year presented by Queensland State Awards Jury Director, Mark Damant.
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This multi-media presentation will launch the new ArtWear label by Byron Bay-based designer Carolyn Daniell. The range is inspired by the Warlukurlangu artists of Yuendumu, whose paintings will also be on display until the 24th March on the ground floor of the iconic Fremantle warehouse PS Art Space.
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A South Australian manufacturer of ultrasound devices has announced a global distribution partnership with a Japanese company, two years after receiving a $1.9 million government grant. Signostics was founded in Adelaide in 2005 with the aim of becoming the world leader in fast and affordable point-of-care ultrasound medical devices.
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 Artist and illustrator Sarah Hardy has been building a name for herself as an illustrator for children and adults since she started PopcornBlue in 2010, after the birth of her third son.
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Topaz' pendant lamps pay homage to the exquisite geometric chaos that are Nature's mineral crystallisation's. The word 'Topaz' has a literal meaning of 'amber quartz,' which was an inspiration behind the lamp's creation. The seemingly random yet precise formations of crystal have been translated into an illuminated asymmetrical sculpture that looks unique from every viewing angle. These direct and indirect/atmospheric pendant lamps can be hung solely or groups, where they appear distinctive in form when positioned at various angles of rotation. Topaz can be shipped flat packed as the sheet metal shade is easily bent into shape by the owner, drastically reducing shipping space. Brass sheet offcuts are used, reclaimed from Melbourne metal yards.
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Thirteen projects are in the running for honours in the Australian Institute of Architects' 2013 North Queensland Regional Architecture Awards with winners to be announced on Friday 1 March. Spanning the region from Mackay in the south to Palm Island in the north and Cloncurry in the west, the projects include a shopping centre, library and regiment barracks among others entered in commercial, public and interior architecture, art and architecture, and urban design categories.
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After a successful six month debut The Fine Design Market wrapped up Spring/Summer in style at their new residence at MC² (Manningham City Square) in Doncaster. Growing in popularity each month, the Manningham community have enjoyed a refreshing change to the existing flea and farmers market, bringing a little bit of inner city hipster to the suburbs.
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Gotye has been awarded three Grammys for Alternative Music Album (for Making Mirrors), Pop Duo/Group Performance and Record of The Year (for Somebody That I Used To Know feat. Kimbra) at the 2013 Grammy Awards ceremony in L.A. today.
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The WYNTER DARK GRAPHIC NOVEL APP is a whole new comic reading platform. We're planning on creating a new way to experience comic books and graphic novels without detracting from what makes them great in the first place. This isn't a motion comic or a standard comic book reader, this is a whole new way to dig into the books that will be published that allows readers to get involved and contribute in a dynamic way. This campaign is to raise the funds for us to code the platform - we have the first series ready to roll out well on the way (WYNTER DARK) but the idea will be that this becomes a platform for other books and creators to publish their work via the tablet medium. Once we have the platform ready roll we'll be soliciting from other creators to start a next generation comicbook e-publishing company.
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42 winners across the six major categories for the inaugural 2012 Sydney Design Awards have been announced by Mark Bergin, Creative Director, design100 on Wednesday 21 November at The Beresford Hotel, Sydney.
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Start your shopping off in style this Christmas at The Fine Design Market. If you are looking for something unique or special for a loved one, family member or friend that will be sure to put a smile on their face then head down to The Fine Design Market at MC² in Doncaster on Sunday 9 December.
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We invite abstracts of no more than 300 words that examine the role of design in building competitive advantage. The abstract submissions process is available on the agIdeas website.
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WORKSHOPPED12 - LOCAL DESIGN, GLOBAL MARKET - BE AN INTERNATIONAL DESIGNER. Coming together under the common goal of having an Australian or New Zealander design piece in every home, the team at Workshopped continue to foster home-grown talent through their annual exhibition, awards and retail ventures.
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SHOP WINE BAR COFFEE. Lightly Warehouse, 3 Glasshouse Rd Collingwood. Our new curated boutique shopping event featuring 25 local and interstate designers and jewellers. The showroom will be taken over by the best of Australian design, alongside JamSheed's pop up wine bar, and Black Coffee cafe. SAVE THE DATE
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The Melbourne Sustainability Jam is part of a global non profit initiative that will gather people from around the world who are passionate about sustainability, design thinking and collaboration. Fifty cities have already registered to participate. Jams are about DOING, NOT TALKING!
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A Melbourne architecture team have impressed the judges with their spectacular design for a bar to be used at the Australian Institute of Architects' 2012 National Architecture Awards held in Perth on 1 November. The Ketel One Bar Design Competition - run in collaboration with the Institute, the emerging architects and graduates network (EmAGN) and National Award sponsor Ketel One - gave emerging graduate architects the opportunity to design and organise the construction of a bar to be used at the National Awards in front of Australia's most prominent architects.
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Australian architecture firms are taking on the world at the World Architecture Festival (WAF), the world's largest festival dedicated to celebrating and sharing architectural excellence from across the globe, being held in Singapore this week (3-5 October). Thirty-two Australian-based firms have been shortlisted for the 2012 WAF Awards to be announced on the final day of the annual festival, Friday 5 October.
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Monday 22 - Sunday 28 October 2012. This year's theme: Community & Architecture. Melbourne Architecture Annual (MA|A) is an initiative by the Australian Institute of Architects that engages with the public to create an open discussion about architecture, the city and sustainable communities. Through a series of exhibitions, film, tours, talks and workshops, MA|A explores the 2012 theme of 'Community & Architecture' aiming to generate public discussion about architecture and its role in community.
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Pamplona-based architect, Francisco Mangado will visit Australia in September and October as the latest drawcard for the Australian Institute of Architects' International Speaker Series. Speaking in Sydney on Tue Sep 25, Brisbane on Thu Sep 27, Melbourne on Tue Oct 2 and Perth on Thu Oct 4, the emphatic educator and advocate will showcase his award-winning designs and share his cross-discipline philosophies.
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The 50 winners across the six major categories for the 2012 Melbourne Design Awards have been announced by Mark Bergin, Creative Director, design100 on Wednesday 19 September at the Business and Investment Centre, Melbourne.

The call for papers process has been extended and abstracts are now due 30 November. We invite abstracts of no more than 300 words that examine the role of design in building competitive advantage. The abstract submissions process is available on the agIdeas website.
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Three Victorian students have taken out the top prize, winning tickets to Venice, in the Australian Institute of Architect's 24 hour SuperStudio design competition for 2012. Ben Kazacos (5th Year Landscape Architecture, RMIT), Brock Hogan (5th Year Landscape Architecture, RMIT), and Phoebe Baker-Gabb (4th Year Interior Design, RMIT) submitted a video of their installation for the Shifting Sands competition run by the Institute’s Student Organised Network for Architecture (SONA).
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Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture, Australia’s exhibition at the 2012 Venice Architecture Biennale, has attracted a record-breaking 10,000 visitors since opening its doors on Monday 27 August. Devised by Creative Directors Anthony Burke and Gerard Reinmuth with TOKO Concept Design, the exhibition has recorded the highest number of visitors to the Australian Pavilion ever during the first week of the most important international architecture event.
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Friday, 31st of August: The biggest and best mobile brands and apps were revealed last night at the 2012 Australian Mobile Awards in Association with AIMIA.

Household names including Qantas, Renault, JB Hi-Fi, and the Commonwealth Bank all walked away with awards on the night, as did government bodies including Australia Post, the Victorian Department of Health and the NSW Food Authority.

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The Australian Institute of Architects has opened the doors to its national pavilion at the 13th International Architecture Exhibition – la Biennale di Venezia with the exhibition Formations: New Practices in Australian Architecture.
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The Fine Design Market
Grand opening – Sunday 16 September 2012, 9am – 2pm
MC2 (Manningham City Square), Civic Plaza, Doncaster
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Applications for the Creative? Investment Marketplace close this Friday, 17 August. It's the last week to submit your Investment Marketplace application. Don’t miss the opportunity to pitch at Creative? for the 100k prize package.
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Students from around the country are competing in the Australian Institute of Architect's 24 hour SuperStudio design competition this weekend.
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July 21, 2012

By Jenny Brown

A near-century-old bungalow has gone from dingy to darling thanks to passive solar design that lets the sunshine in.

The clients who asked Penny Guild of Zen Architects to extend their ''hybrid Edwardian-California'' Brunswick bungalow stated upfront that they didn't want ''a brilliant addition bolted onto the back of an old, crappy house''.

They were more emphatic that what they required was ''a nice home that would flow inside''. For them, Guild says, ''the inside was more important than the outside''.

By Jenny Brown June 30, 2012

Statements in metal and glass cast an ever-changing light over a shining example of client-designer synergy.

When the translucent glass for the clerestory windows in the new extension arrived, the builder had an OMG moment. ''Don't know about the pink,'' he said.

When the big, round disc of brass that has become the centrepiece kitchen table was rolled down the hallway, the client, too, was looking askance: ''I thought it was huge,'' she says.

As the various elements of a distinctly individual back addition to a double-fronted Victorian house were taking shape, architect Fiona Winzar had instances of wondering if so many daringly different components of design and decor would eventually hang together.

by Georgia Wilkins June 24, 2012

Couches have become an unlikely accessory at summer music festivals in recent years, with sunburnt music fans often seen lugging battered furniture between stages at outdoor venues around Victoria.

Mardy Daniel, a self-proclaimed ''ideas man'', has found a way to make their lives a lot easier.

Just over a year ago, the 21-year-old acted on a late-night brainwave and designed a couch with a solar-powered motor, wheels and a stereo system.

Canberra based silversmith Alison Jackson is pleased to announce and invite you to the launch of her new collection at Design:Made:Trade July 19 – 22, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne.

Having exhibited nationally and internationally over the last four years, this is the first time Alison will be showing her entire collection in Australia. Combining traditional silversmithing techniques with a contemporary aesthetic, the collection includes a range of one-off and limited edition tableware and jewellery pieces. Her designs are characterised by simplicity, functionality and playful quirky twist.

By Henrietta Cook

June 17, 2012

Wouter Walmink never considered wearing a bicycle helmet until he moved to Melbourne a year ago.

But after pedalling through the city's hectic streets, the Dutch designer realised he was going to need a helmet - so he set about making a better one.

The result is the LumaHelm, a flashing headpiece with 104 multicoloured LED lights that illuminate like indicators when a cyclist tilts the head left or right.

''One of the things we wanted to do was make a helmet that was more exciting to look at,'' the 28-year-old says. ''We saw an opportunity where we thought no one had seen it before.''

Australia’s first greenwall developer Mark Paul, Founder and Director of The Greenwall Company, has recently completed work on the tallest greenwall in the country. Spanning over 22 floors of the Origin Energy head office in Melbourne, each floor has its own unique make up, specifically designed to maximize the varying angles and lighting.

Mark Paul, Horticulturist and Director of The Greenwall Company said, “They form a continuous green spine down the core of the building. A green lung and wild place to traverse while using the stairs between the floors.”The Greenwall Company builds its walls from 94 per cent of recyclable materials that would otherwise be destined for landfill, taking the benefit of their greenwalls beyond just their aesthetic appeal.

Living Places Suburban Revival is the culmination of an open design competition to establish an innovative approach to medium density public housing which sensitively integrates with and rejuvenates low-density suburbs in an environmentally and socially sustainable way. Initiated by the Office of the Victorian Government Architect and the Office of Housing, the project involves the design of fifteen environmentally efficient, low-cost dwellings on six consolidated residential allotments in Dandenong.
 
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Sydney-based design and architecture firm Dunn & Hillam Architects has won a major contract to masterplan & design new facilities for a new world-class camping facility in central Australia’s largest national park, the extraordinary West MacDonnell National Park west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia.

Dunn & Hillam, a multiple award winning practice with specialist expertise in remote and regional work, won the contract in the face of strong competition from some of Australia’s and The Northern Territory’s leading architecture firms.

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design100 is pleased to announce The Australian Design Collection.

The Australian Design Collection, the first of its kind in Australia, aims to capture the design culture and trends of our times for future generations and will be launched in October 2012.

It is expected that more than 1000 designs will be initially digitalized and then available as an online resource at www.design100.com

Initially The Australian Design Collection will be made up of the shortlisted entries from the Melbourne Design Awards, the Sydney Design Awards, and the Mobile Awards each year. It is planned that the collection will be expanded with further design to be added over time.

By freelance writer Jordan Kushins

Design, for all its problem solving and world changing, can be a bit heady sometimes. When form and function align it’s a beautiful thing, but is it fun? Funny? Should it be? The Bangkok-based trio behind 56th Studio--Napawan, Saran Yen, and Atirotj--bring quirk to their work in heaping helpings, and their latest collection explores the connection between illustration and design, featuring TV’s most famous fictional family. “We are trying to prove that it’s not just about grabbing a pen to draw; it can also be something very much in between,” Saran tells Co.Design. “Humor and the foolishness of pop culture seem to be a perfect subject to communicate.”

by Carolyn Cummins, Commercial Property Editor 

June 6, 2012

A new $400 million construction group has been established through the merger of Victorian-based company Icon and New South Wales-based Southern Cross Constructions.

The alliance comes at a critical time for the national construction sector, which is reeling from the high-profile collapses of several companies, including Kell & Rigby.

Icon made the initial approach to Southern Cross about a year ago, as they are similar in size and turnover and both focus on multi-residential (apartment) and some commercial projects.

Following the successful talks, Icon Southern Cross will be the new name and the merged entity will assume responsibility for $230 million worth of commercial and residential projects in the NSW market alone.

By Stephen Crafti June 6, 2012

The former Emily McPherson College, on the corner of Russell and Victoria streets, presents as a fairly stoic piece of architecture. Designed in 1926 by architect Edwin Evan Smith, chief architect of the Department of Public Works, the heritage-listed building features a serious set of columns and distinctive steel-framed windows influenced by the American Beaux Arts style.

''We restored most of the original features and those that were replaced are identical to Smith's design,'' says project architect Milica Tumbas, associate director of Lovell Chen Architects and Heritage Consultants, who worked closely with architects Peter Lovell on the heritage side and Kai Chen on the design. ''Building 13 [as it's now referred to] is beautifully proportioned, but has quite an eclectic style,'' adds Tumbas.

Streamlined ticketing, well-priced packages and better snow cover are the season openers, writes Craig Tansley.

Victorian resorts are rolling out new radio-frequency technology. Thredbo and Perisher have significant savings available to those who book well ahead. Multi-day tickets are good value and stay/ski packages abound. Here's what's new on the mountains this year:

By design100 Guest Editor Beatrice Pitt

A few months back, the Australian Design Alliance (AdA), backed by well-known designers such as Marc Newson and members from the DIA, AGDA, the AIA and other professional bodies, launched their campaign to fund the nationwide initiative of the Australian National Design Policy.

A worthy cause, with the goals of promoting design advocacy and putting design on the forefront of government agendas, they met their target of raising over $15,000, earlier this May. So how do they plan on representing the professional voice of designers and promoting Australian wide design productivity and innovation? Lisa Cahill from the Australian Design Alliance describes the future of the design policy.

by Jenny Brown 2 June 2012

An architect couple went with the grain to remodel a cottage as a holiday house that embraces its coastal surroundings.

The bones beneath this cathedral-ceilinged cottage in the old part of Barwon Heads - a first project by new local practice Auhaus - belonged to a cabin that came a long way to lodge among the twisting tea-trees in sea-change central.

Before architect couple Kate Fitzpatrick and Ben Stibbard applied their creativity to remodel, furnish and landscape a holiday-house compound of two small pavilions, the 700-square-metre site was occupied by a basic wooden bungalow with a sleepout at the back - structures that had been relocated to the Surf Coast after serving as accommodation for workers on the Snowy River Scheme.

by Jenny Brown 26 May 2012

Quasi-industrial materials turn out to be perversely pliant.

How do you make a home of real sophistication on an old factory site and using materials as fearlessly industrial as unadorned concrete, grey-brown brickwork and galvanised steel?

In a two-level and highly internalised house on a North Melbourne corner site once occupied by a cheese-manufacturing operation, architect Robert Simeoni has even made a big feature of galvanised steel grating, usually employed on boggy walkways or factory gantries.

Sourced from My Modern Met blog

Fashion department store Marks & Spencer launched its project called Shwopping, a portmanteau of shopping and swapping, in an effort to recycle clothing and decrease waste. The project, which they refer to as a revolution, seeks to draw attention to the amount of clothing that's discarded every day in the UK and make a conscious effort to reverse this wasteful habit. The cause claims that approximately 10,000 articles of clothing go to landfills every five minutes.

The world's most photographed kid, Suri Cruise, has been spotted wearing them and if you go to playgrounds around Sydney and Melbourne, it's likely you will also see toddlers jumping around in the same simple canvas shoes sold by Sophie Cooper and Sophie Cooper, the identically named sisters-in-law behind Walnut Melbourne.
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Last night at Comme, Mark Bergin, Creative Director of design100, announced the Australian Design Collection and the opening of applications for the 2012 Premier's Design Awards to a crowd at a Melbourne Design Awards networking event.  
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Applications are now open for the 2012 Premier's Design Awards which recognise and reward Victorian designers and businesses using exemplar design effectively and sustainably. Premier Ted Baillieu said the awards recognised Victoria's design capabilities and businesses that invested in design to contribute to business success through increased market share, financial sustainability, and environmental and social outcomes.
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Amsterdam-based NL Architects recently proposed this design for a Bicycle Club in Sanya, the southernmost city of China. Sanya, located in the Hainan Province, is well-known for its tropical climate and is a popular tourist destination. The plans include a dedicated space for visitors and bike enthusiasts, who can pedal around the top oval structure or take a rest in the glass-enclosed cafe below. The second level provides a fun bicycle area as well as respite below from the hot tropical sun.
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I had heard of the line-ups. After seeing images of the seemingly endless, undulating wooden form inside March Studio's latest retail endeavour, Baker D. Chirico, it only confirmed that I had to experience it for myself.
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Having just flown back from a very brief trip to Paris and Copenhagen, I am reminded by how important good design is to the enjoyment and well being of our lives. These cities, like all good cities, are a product of their high quality public realm, those spaces outside of their fine buildings in which the public act out their civic life. In the main, the public realm of cities is made up of its streets, and as such the realization that if you design good streets you will end up designing good cities.
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SOMETIMES you just know. Melbourne filmmaker Natasha Pincus felt that serendipity the first time she heard Gotye's now chart-topping hit Somebody That I Used to Know.''[The idea for the clip] came on the first listen. My heart dropped. I thought, this is going to be massive, this is an amazing song,'' Pincus said. Her instincts were pitch perfect.

One of our 2012 Melbourne and Sydney Design Awards sponsors, Bayard Lawyers, has made a generous offer to all of this years' shortlisted entrants. See their offer below - information on how to organise a consultation will be sent to you when your entry is shortlisted.

As price, product and service converge into sameness, how brands distinguish themselves becomes critical.

To be seen is one thing, to have an authentic brand story that encourages rewarding relationship with customers requires messages that inform and motivate. Bringing the story to life requires design to maximise the desired customer experience - be it a product, a package, a service, or a destination.

Light, movement and sound will unite in the form of a collaborative runway installation, 'Aves Insecta' for the debut of Australian fashion label Tettmann.Doust during the L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.

The Ernest studio has returned home this week with a much-deserved award from the Sydney Australian International Furniture Fair (AIFF). It's easy to see why Craig Byrne's ernest foldable stool captured the Edge concept award for best prototype. The stool first caught my attention with it's straight forward, no non-sense appeal. Designed for the cafe culture, it fits right at home here in Melbourne, with minimal use of materials and simple joinery; it fits neatly and quietly into just about any space. The studio behind the design is just as interesting as the story of the stool. The Ernest studio is taking on Melbourne, one community at a time.

Mannington Commercial, the carpet and flooring company, has once again put out an open call for entries to their 2012 textile contest. The contest branding  'none of us is creative as all of us' aptly describes the process of the project. Calling on working architects or interior designers, they are asking for submissions of conceptual designs for a new carpet collection. Entries are then displayed on their website where viewers can have their say through commentary and voting.  The judging panel will have a final say, but the crowdsourced votes will definitely weigh in.

Since the inception of Modernism, a ubiquitous design principle has evolved: the honesty of materials and of construction. Many have attributed good design to the honesty of a well-crafted product due to its stunning, quiet beauty. Click read more to see the video.

Developed by an inspiring group of young Australians, online store Nspired is the country's first furniture retailer using crowd sourcing - where the public picks what goes into production - as an innovative method of producing their designer collection.

Australian startup Beehive are crowd funding a “design your own 3D printed eyewear” interface. The team of industrial designers and engineers (including Engineers Without Borders founder Daniel Almagor) are building a website that will let anybody jump into the design process, creating a unique eyewear design that will be 3D printed.

Whitehouse Melbourne Campus hosted industry, family and friends of the first cohort of Styling & Creative Direction graduates on Wednesday 30 November. Each student was given the task of creating a space that represents the culmination of their 3 years of study, their Signature Exhibition. The Exhibition showcased each student's project, representing their aesthetic within their chosen creative discipline; the breadth of work included communication design, print media, fashion editorial, interior & industrial design, textile design, as well as styling & artistic direction.disciplines, inclusive of communication design, print media, interior and industrial design, textile design as well as styling & artistic direction.

Object’s 2012 program launches with a bang as they play host to a new exhibition featuring five outstanding Australian designers.

Getting a prototype into production is an up-hill climb for most emerging Australian designers. Seeing a prototype go into production, complete with manufacturer and retailer, relies on any number of factors – good relationships and contacts with industry, excellent exposure, and often being in the right place at the right time.

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