Designers Shine at NZ’s BeST Design Awards

Designers Shine at NZ’s BeST Design Awards

A memorial commemorating the enduring bonds between New Zealand and the UK and our shared sacrifice during times of war; the reinvigoration of a much loved but tired beer brand; an adaptable table range; a sexy street pole and an elegant wind turbine that charges batteries in remote locations, were among the major winners at the Designers Institute of New Zealand’s annual BeST Design Awards.

The awards, which celebrate the very best of New Zealand design across the disciplines of product, spatial and graphics, were presented at a glittering black tie event, attended by over 600 people, at Auckland’s Aotea Centre on Friday, October 5.

This year a record 633 entries were received for the awards - up an impressive 20% from last year. Cathy Veninga, Chief Executive Officer of the Designers Institute of New Zealand (DINZ), said the standard of entries, especially in the graphic category, was ‘”phenomenal” and paid tribute to the immense design talent that we have in New Zealand.

“Designers across the three disciplines demonstrated world-class design in terms of creativity, innovation and skill. Our design industry in New Zealand is truly coming of age and the standard of work being produced is world leading,” said Ms Veninga.

Two ‘Stringers’ (the supreme award for outstanding achievement) were awarded to the New Zealand Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London for spatial design; and in graphic design to Shine Limited for their reinvigoration of the classic Mac’s beer brand.

Acclaimed New Zealand furniture designer, David Trubridge, was presented with the John Britten Award, the highest recognition given by DINZ to reward leadership, vision and achievement in the design industry in New Zealand.

This year’s Outstanding Achievement Award went to New Zealand brand expert Brian Richards, for his long time support of the New Zealand design industry.

Spatial Design Stringer – New Zealand Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London

The ‘Stringer’ in spatial design was won by John Hardwick-Smith of Wellington based Athfield Architects and Palmerston North based sculptor Paul Dibble of Dibble Art Company, for their design of the New Zealand Memorial at Hyde Park Corner in London.

Providing a focus for ANZAC Day and other commemorations, the distinctly New Zealand design is based around 16 bronze sculptures each adorned with text and images set out in formation across a grassy slope overlooking Hyde Park Corner. While the sculptures appear as crosses when viewed from above, on closer inspection the patina bronze surfaces are textured and scored with iconic images of ferns, birds and shells, which were selected by the designers to recall the histories and stories from New Zealand and its shared culture with Britain.

Athfield Architects John Hardwick-Smith said he was excited to have been involved in shaping a significant installation and creating a “distinctly New Zealand space that Kiwis might identify with when away from home.”

Said Mr Hardwick-Smith: “The memorial marks a New Zealand sense of ‘place’ in central London, where New Zealanders and Britons can gather to reflect on stories from a collective past – or celebrate together on formal occasions such as ANZAC Day.”

Mr Hardwick-Smith said that while the primary objective of the design was to create a space that people enjoyed being in and wanted to come back to, he also wanted the installation to include many layers (some subtle and some overt), to “spark different reactions from different people on different occasions.”

He said that it was a great challenge to on the one hand recall sombre events and sacrifices of wartime and on the other, celebrate contemporary life, culture and connections of Kiwis and British through the design.

Sculptor Paul Dibble, who has worked with John Hardwick-Smith on other sculpture collaborations, said: “We deliberately set the memorial in a position where the main pedestrian route runs through the memorial so that visitors will walk amongst the sculptures, encouraging people to stop and explore. Through the words and images, any New Zealander visiting the memorial will recognise home, and British people may learn something of the relationship between our two countries.”

The judges, who described the design as a powerful and provocative memorial, said: “The project speaks strongly of New Zealand as a nation having its own identity and celebrates a new future.”

Graphic Design Stringer – Mac’s

For the first time ever, the ‘Stringer’ winner for graphics went to not one but a collection of four graphic entries, each produced by Auckland based Shine Limited, for the rejuvenation of a much loved by tired New Zealand beer brand, Mac’s.

Shine, led by Design Director Lucian Law, won gold with Mac’s in the Broadcast Graphic Design, Identity Development (Large Scale) and Visual Communication categories.

Law said the overriding objective of the campaign was to create a “distinctive and contemporary brand that celebrated Mac’s maverick and playful personality, eclectic past, passion for beer and stringent naturally brewed philosophy.”

Drawing inspiration from the beer’s maverick founder, Terry McCashin, Law said part of the campaign’s appeal was that it broke just about all the conventions associated with advertising and marketing a beer product.

Said Law: “Our approach with Mac’s was to think about how and where we could most vividly project what Mac’s is really about, as opposed to purely advertising the brand. The campaign aimed to redefine the perception of craft beer by challenging every known convention of beer advertising and positioning – no people, no pouring shot and no overbearing logo.”

Even Shine’s own approach to tackling the mammoth project broke with tradition.

Said Law: “Strangely, we began the rebranding by rewriting the bottles’ back labels. An attitude emerged that combined a passion of brewing with light-hearted cheek. We worked to inject a typographic personality into the brand that reflected the freewheeling style of the writing, with imagery being drawn from art and landscape sources relevant to Mac’s place in history.”

The judges, led by Fraser Gardyne, said Shine’s campaign retained a strong connection to the ‘nostalgia now’ beer market without surrendering to the usual clichés, and that their unique Kiwi take on a boutique beer brand challenged beer stereotypes and broke out of the traditional beer category.

The judges went on to say that Shine’s campaign-led solution not only revitalised a tired brand but also stood out from the crowd in a highly competitive market sector.

The brand makeover, which was undertaken in eight months, involved an overhaul of the entire range of Mac’s packaging, a redesign of the two Mac’s concept bars, a newly published Mac’s brand book, 13 TV commercials, four press ads and a complete range of point of sale pieces.

As a result of the refined aesthetic, sales of the Mac’s craft range of beers grew 47% over a one year period.

In addition to being awarded the coveted graphic ‘Stringer’ and four gold’s for the Mac’s campaign, Shine also won gold in the Visual Communications category for their “MASH” posters, and nabbed four silvers in the Graphic Design Arts, Self Promotion, and Packaging fields.

Product Design – Best of Category

Pacer Turbines’ innovative Cable Mounted Wind Generator, designed by in-house designers Peter Boyd-Wilson and Paul Binner, was awarded gold in the Concept/Experimental Product design field.

The designers of the unique energy generating product said their objective was to create a “better method of charging batteries in remote locations that was not only portable, but also visually appealing, space efficient and silent and could be easily mass produced using current mass manufacture technology.”

While the designers say the product was initially designed for trailer yachts (with the energy produced by the turbine used to trickle charge lead acid batteries), they say its portable nature means it has a number of potential applications for use in Third World countries, in the portable appliance market, the telecommunications and the education market.

The judges said of the winning prototype, which has been backed by a high profile New Zealand energy company, was “an attractive and paradigm changing aesthetic backed up by commercial justification and technical innovation. In a market where the dominant technology is still to be determined, the cable mounted turbine has every chance of success.”

Wellington based designer, Mark Pennington of Formway Design, was awarded gold in both the Furniture and Sustainable Product category for his Met Adapt Table Range, a range of adaptable office furniture, and his Met Adapt Meeting Table, a truly environmental product solution which has been developed specifically for the Australian market.

The elemental Met Adapt Table range, which boasts versatile shapes, contemporary detailing, complementary leg design and a wiring solution that allows access to power and data ports while keeping cables hidden away, was developed specifically for the modern office environment and can be adapted in a variety of ways to offer a comprehensive, yet completely integrated, customisable fit-out.

The judges said the design was clear, concise and well executed, achieving both a flexibility and simplicity that was anchored by a strong focus on the end user and the environment. The Met Adapt Meeting Table, which was awarded gold in the Sustainable product category, utilises environmentally friendly materials such as MDF from the only FSC certified plantation in Australia and EO rated low formaldehyde surfaces.

The judges praised the design, saying the designers successfully addressed sustainability issues without compromising the products functionality and aesthetic appeal.

Said the judges: “Placing sustainability issues on a level footing with the other considerations has clearly been taken as an opportunity for additional innovation in process, materials and business models, rather than as a constraint that limits choices.”

The design team at Hub Street Equipment, led by Robbie Wells, took home a gold in the Non-Consumer Product category with their design of the HUB MFP – a multi function street pole which they describe as being ‘the latest evolution in the field of modular urban street equipment.’

The product, which was designed specifically for Auckland City as part of Auckland City Council’s CBD Streetscape Upgrade Programme, has been designed as a “HUB” to accommodate every existing and future street function and accessory required for the management of a modern city.

Sleek and stylish, the designers describe the street pole as “beautiful, functional and robust.”

“The beauty of the HUB MFP comes from an absolute bloody minded approach to every design detail, every material and every finish choice. The choice of fixings, the radius on the mounting system, and the integration of each and every accessory, has been considered both individually and holistically in order to ensure that the HUB MPF, when viewed from 100mm or 100m is beautiful,” said Robbie Wells, Design Director at Hub Street Equipment.

The judges admired the integration of a complex system of modularised components into a unified range, saying the HUB MFP, “creates a presence in the urban environment through a process of reduction of components and maximised functionality.” The judges said the client’s vision had “set a benchmark against which other cities should be measured.”

Other standout winners at this year’s awards included:

• Christchurch based Strategy Design & Advertising’s “Giacometti Shadows”, which was awarded gold in the Environmental Graphics category. Judges said the innovative ambient design, which saw giant shadows pop up all over Christchurch to promote the Christchurch Art Gallery’s Giacometti exhibition, demonstrated the power of a good idea well executed. The entry also won a silver Clio Award in Miami earlier this year.

• Tom Skyring’s “Q Restaurant” at Auckland’s new Westin Hotel, which won gold in the Hospitality category. The judges said the rich pallet of materials and slick detailing sat well within the new hotel, cleverly changing to look out during the day and inwards during the evening, and that Skyring understood his client’s aspirations and gave them more.

• Patrick Morris’ “Antipode Platter” or upside-down pot plant, which won silver in the Consumer product category. The planter was designed for people with little or no floorspace wanting to grow decorative plants or vegetables.

• The “Return to Sender Eco-coffin” which won silver in the Sustainable Product category. The coffin uses environmentally friendly materials, is biodegradable and is the only coffin in New Zealand that departs from traditional shapes.

An exhibition of the finalists and winners work is currently on display in Auckland at the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The Dulux BeST Design Awards Exhibition, which closes in Auckland on October 20, will also be touring to Tauranga and Christchurch.

The BeST Design Awards originated in 1988 and have been held annually since 1996.

www.bestawards.co.nz

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