Bombay Sapphire has had a long association with design, and in 2003 they launched the ‘Design Discovery Award’ to support the Australian design community. The Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award is Australia’s richest and most prestigious design prize rewarding and assisting Australia’s most talented emerging designers

Over 600 of Australia’s most talented young designers have participated in the awards with past winners: Rohan Nicol, Jon Goulder, Adam Goodrum, Lucas Chirnside, Charles Wilson, Bernabei Freeman, Trent Jansen, Ilias Fotopoulos and Daniel & Emma, all going on to achieve significant recognition and greater commercial success.

The top 10 Finalists for the Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award 2011 were recently decided upon by design industry leaders, Heidi Dokulil, Ewan McEoin, Liane Rossler, Jennifer Sanders, Terri Winter and Richard Waller.

The judging panel met in September in Sydney to deliberate, choosing the ten best designs from a strong and diverse group of over 60 entries.

To be considered entries needed to : • Push the boundaries • Be your own original ideas that reflect your own personal style • Be work that can be promoted as authentically Australian and that reflects our unique positioning in the world – entrants must be Australian citizens • Be fully resolved so it can be manufactured and retailed

This year’s winner will be awarded AUD $30,000 towards the commercialization of their design and a trip to a leading design fair, choosing from Index in Denmark, Design Miami or Interieur design fair in Belgium. Four runners up will each receive $2,500 and the remaining five finalists will each receive $1,000.

The winner will be announced at a gala event at the MCA in Sydney on October 27th

X&Y by FLYNN TALBOT – WA

Emerging Lighting designer Flynn Talbot grew up in Perth, Western Australia. 2011 saw Talbot hold his first solo exhibition with his latest piece “X&Y” at the prestigious Helmrinderknecht Gallery in Berlin. Talbot now moves between his home of Perth and his new studio in Berlin.

No dimmers, no switches, no remote control, no instructions. X&Y is a truly interactive lamp. Using nothing but the spherical glass diffuser, the user can choose any colour and brightness in any direction they desire. The latest high-output LEDs are used with the Red, Green, Blue and also White chips which creates rich, saturated colours while being energy efficient.

HUSQUE JUG by MARC HARRISON – QLD

Marc Harrison studied Interior Design at the Queensland College of Art in 1990 before setting up his studio in Brisbane. He invented Husque, a material made from recycled macadamia nut shells, in 2003 and has since sold his work internationally.

Inspired by imagery of travel posters and industrial design of the 1920s, the Husque water jug explores the relationship between synthetic plastics of the time and silver, or silver-coloured vessels HUSQUE is a unique modern Australian material based on the native Australian Macadamia nut and using modern technology.

The body of the water jug is folded and welded stainless steel. This allows the HUSQUE, which has endless possibilities of shape to manipulate the personality of the jug.

The handles are attached by a coupled tapered lug, so no visible fixings. The handle designs are a language on their own and in being photographed away from the jug became symbols from which he graphically designed an alphabet as an extension of the creative process.

WOVEN by DENNIS ABALOS – NSW

Dennis Abalos is an Industrial Designer based in Sydney, Australia. His work ranges from self produced designs to collaborative design work for a wide variety of companies on projects in furniture, homewares and lighting design, to interior and exhibition design.

The WOVEN bowl came from examining existing fruit bowls and providing solutions to three main problematic areas:
1. How do you avoid rapid degradation of fruit in a bowl?
2. How can you display fruit in the most attractive way?
3. How can you design a fruit bowl that integrates easily with current home furnishing trends/interiors and use of natural sustainable materials?

The simple task of organising and displaying fruit at home has inspired and created an organic vessel made of natural materials. The WOVEN fruit bowl is a light and elegant vessel. It is inspired by natural materials and aims to bring an aspect of nature into the home.

WOVEN combines craft-based skills of complex weaving with modern design to produce an elegant and understated fruit bowl. The open weave allows for air to circulate from the bottom as well as the sides to ensure fruit is preserved. The design incorporates sustainable design by using natural materials such as Rattan round core and Abaca rope.

LIGHT GARDEN by ALEXANDER FITZPATRICK – NSW

Alexander Fitzpatrick was born in Calgary, Canada and grew up in Australia, India and Canada. Graduating from the University of Alberta, Canada with a Bachelor of Design in 2008, he is inspired by the natural and scientific principles within nature, the community and environments around him.

The energy efficient LIGHT GARDEN allows for users to create a custom experience limited by their imagination. The modular function allows the use to create an organic and abstract pattern across the room, allowing the user to have a completely unique piece. The fitting is internally lit by LED, giving the effect of light bursting through the fitting.

The personalised garden of light brings the essence of natural inspiration into the dwelling.

SCALE by DOMINIC BROADHURST – NSW

Dominic was born in Tamworth, NSW in 1984. He is currently completing a Masters of Architecture at UNSW. He holds a Bachelor of Digital Media and a Bachelor of Architectural Studies, both of which he graduated from with distinction.

SCALE is a device for keeping one’s life in balance. The introduction of a mechanical relationship between the wardrobe and the bookshelf generates a ludic system that draws attention to the compositional potential of the unused domestic object. SCALE is a versatile piece that is easily adapted to a range of architectural conditions. Its palate of modest and familiar materials evokes the casual wit of Duchamp’s Readymades and makes for easy and fast construction.

SCALE was designed while the designer should have been studying for a structures exam as part of his architecture degree. SCALE was influenced by his interest in modern art, particularly Suprematism compositions and Dadaist assemblages.

The Russian artist El Lissitzky developed an idea he refers to as Proun, loosely, an intersection of the dynamic canvases of his contemporaries with an architectonic sensibility – the designer refers to the piece as Proun Furniture. Dada sculpture is also an important influence because it proved that you can successfully reconfigure the meaning of a common and familiar objects.

SCALE embodies the type of idea that would have failed in that structures course. However, by pursuing an irrational urge the designer has arrived at an alternative that is efficient, economical and engaging

DOTTIE COAT RACK by KRISTIAN AUS – NSW

Kristian Aus started the design studio Autumn Products in 2007 after working for several of Australia’s leading Industrial design consultancies. The products that have been produced to date have all used production methods that are available locally in Australia, and are not complicated to assemble or to use.

Dottie is not just a coat rack, but is also a memory and an object that begs to be touched and moved.

The design of Dottie Coat Rack is inspired by tactility and by things that are hidden in plain sight. The desire was to create a product that is more than it seems at first glance and that allows for discovery during use. The fond memory of children’s toys is referenced in the shapes of the hanging points and the sounds they make when used.

Dottie is constructed from Tasmanian Oak and allows for items to be hung, or clamped in place. The individual hanging pins can be pulled out when needed and pushed in to hold onto clothing, or to hide them away.

SPUN LAMPS by EVIE GROUP – NSW

The Evie Group is a Sydney based design studio founded in 2010 by Alex Gilmour and Dominic Chong. They produce a range of homewares, lighting and furniture under the Evie brand.

The Spun light is inspired by the classic wooden top toy. The concept was transformed into a decorative lighting piece, available as a floor, table and pendant lamp. Continuing the theme of playfulness, the design is flexible in its positioning of angles as a floor and table lamp with the addition of a rubber base support piece.

The Spun lamps do not have any visible screws or fasteners on the outer surface. This creates a clean lined design, mimicking the smooth profile of the spinning top.

The frosted glass shade is securely held in place with an innovative screw method and the electrical wire (flex) has intentionally been made long to become a feature of the lamp.

The wire pays further homage to the traditional top, which is wound around the lamp or loosely placed on the floor, resembling a top after it has spun. The rope like wire relates back to the winding up and spinning of the top allowing an element of play with the floor lamp and its display.

The polished mirror finishes of brass and silver colours and curved surfaces, create an interesting reflection of the surrounding environment. When positioning the two lamps sizes in clusters, the play of light is emphasised, creating a bold statement to any space.

KIDS STRAW STOOL by DALE HARDIMAN – VIC

Currently studying Furniture Design at RMIT with intentions of studying Industrial Design in 2012, Dale has found a passion for experimental, thought provoking ideas based on sustainable principles.

The KIDS STRAW STOOL is made from a completely bio-degradable material (Wheat Starch, Water, Vinegar, Glycerol, Pea Straw, Grass Seeds). Designed to be produced by the user at home, once it reaches end of life, it can be placed into nature and bio-degrade.

Being made from Pea Straw and grass seeds, it will grow and help to promote health in the land, bio-degrading in 5-6 weeks.

Cook, Sit, Bio-Degrade, Grow.

A-JOINT by HENRY WILSON – NSW

Henry Wilson is a designer whose practice is built around his belief that design should respond to a real need. A graduate with first class honours from the Australian National University, he also holds a Masters in Man and Humanity from the prestigious Design Academy Eindhoven in The Netherlands.

A-joint is a sand cast, incredibly strong, multi-use joinery system that makes it possible to unite standardised, multi sized, pre-dimensional timber in up-to 4 different configurations within a sturdy A-frame structure. Easy to recycle and produce, the joint is limitless in its potential uses. From tables and benches to market stalls, shop fit-out and temporary housing.

CRACKED LOG LAMP by DUNCAN MEERDING – TAS

Based in Hobart, Tasmania, Duncan Meerding works mainly with wood, with a special interest in furniture, lighting and small objects. Much of his work is inspired by nature and organic forms, with a keen interest on the dispersion of light.

The Cracked Log Lamps are made from salvaged logs that would otherwise have been burnt. These lamps embrace rather than avoid the naturally occurring cracks in refuse logs by throwing light through the fissures.

Cracks are usually associated with darkness; however, Duncan has reversed this association resulting in each lamp throwing a unique a light pattern.

By turning the logs into a vessel for light, he can bring the outside in, and be reminded of our intrinsic connection with nature. This design was inspired by his visual situation – he is legally blind with around 1-5% vision concentrated around the periphery.

The Cracked Log Lamp reflects the way he sees the world – with visions of light emanating from the peripheries, simplistic lines and an emphasis on tactility.

2010 Awards

Two hundred design industry, media and VIP guests attended the Bombay Sapphire Design Discover Awards at the Sydney Opera House last year where outstanding work of emerging Australian designers was recognised.

The 2010 winner was Adelaide-based designer team Daniel Emma (Daniel To and Emma Aiston) for their Basics Collection, consisting of sturdy, attractive desk accessories.