Designer Dealings: Australian Good Design Awards, 2023

“Design can be art. Design can be aesthetics. Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.”

– Paul Rand

It is true that design is simple yet complicated. The beauty of aesthetics can soothe our minds and open up new possibilities for our imaginations. It is no wonder that every industry is doing its best to have the best designs.

Australia is a beautiful country. With increased modernization, the island country is developing at a rapid speed. Naturally, design plays an integral part in every sector.

Established by the Industrial Design Council of Australia in 1958, The Australian Good Design Awards celebrate the best people, projects, and brands behind the best designs every year. The Australian Good Design Awards aim to show that design has the power to shape a better world and create a safer as well as prosperous future. They showcase cutting-edge design projects in a number of sectors like research, fashion, engineering, architecture, and social impact.

In 2023, September, the prestigious Australian Good Design Awards Special Accolades were presented to a select few deserving candidates.

Winner: BioScout

Category: Good Design Award of the Year

BioScout and the team at Tiller Design came up with the world’s first airborne tracking device. The autonomous agricultural disease monitoring system enables growers and agronomists to get autonomous insights into the crop’s microclimate. In a world where organic goods are the most sought after, people are more aware of the increasing agricultural costs and the adverse effects of disease eradication measures. In such a scenario, BioScout is a boon. It identifies the unseeable in a range of complex agricultural settings. The best part is that it can function continuously for years without any intervention from human beings. BioScout has deservedly won the Good Design of the Year Award.

Winner: Future Friendly

Category: Good Design Team of the Year Award

Future Friendly was founded by Nick Gower and Jon Christensen. The founders, along with their excellent team, aim to make a constructive impact through design. The best part is that they innovate everyday services. Their goal is to lead positive change at scale by combining strategy, conscious design, and hands-on product and service development. Future Friendly is a committed organization that steadfastly believes that the products and services that we use have a direct impact on the well-being of ourselves and our environments. Future Friendly has been working tirelessly for almost twenty years to make the world a better place through good design. It has rightfully won the 2023 Good Design Team of the Year Award. 

Winner: Marc Newson

Category: Australian Design Prize

Marc Newson is a world-renowned industrial designer. Newson was born in Sydney, Australia on October 20, 1963. Since then, he has gone on to be one of the most influential designers of today’s world. He started his career as a jewelry maker at Sydney College of the Arts. Later, he went on to work alongside Qantas, Louis Vuitton, and Ferrari. Newson has worked in a number of industries and has revolutionized design processes, possibilities, and philosophies. Many of his works are part of the permanent collections of prestigious museums. His pieces have been featured in myriad prestigious documentaries, radio programs, and publications. Marc Newson has rightfully won 2023’s Australian Design Prize.

Winner: Solid Lines

Category: Indigenous Design Award

Solid Lines is Australia’s first First Nations-led illustration agency. It works to pave the way for emerging First Nations artists to find success, recognition, support, and fair representation within the art and design industries. It is tirelessly striving to increase the future commerciality of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander creativity. It contributes to policy development and sets new standards within Australia’s creative space. Solid Lines strongly champions the protection of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP). The organization promotes beneficial partnerships and culturally safe creative opportunities that respect and give back to the community.

Winner: Veena Sahajwalla

Category: Women in Design Award

Veena Sahajwallah is a renowned inventor and Professor of Materials Science in the Faculty of Science at UNSW Australia. She has made a number of sustainable engineering innovations and significant contributions to a waste-free world. Professor Veena Sahajwallah has reimagined what is usually seen as waste by working closely with industry professionals to solidify recycling processes. Sahajwallah has blazed a trail and eked out a place for herself in the industry. Through all her contributions, she has rightfully earned the title of an eco-alchemist. She has deservedly won 2023’s Women in Design Award.

Winner: Bushfire Social Intelligence

Category: Michael Bryce Patron’s Award

Bushfire Social Intelligence is the winner of 2023’s Michael Bryce Patron’s Award. It came into existence after the catastrophic bushfire summer of 2019-2020. The project provides highly relevant public information to firefighters. It offers machine-learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) optimized innovation that assists in early fire detection, fire behavior analysis, and response time enhancement by sorting through social media status updates, photos, and geotags automatically. 

Winner: EMU

Category: Good Design Award for Sustainability

Erosion Mitigation Unit, also known as EMU, is a nature-inspired and ecologically-inclusive design created by Reef Design Lab. EMUs are a series of swell-attenuating artificial reef modules. They form a permeable barrier to reduce the height and energy of waves, provide a rich habitat for native sea creatures, and also offer an awe-inspiring sight for snorkelers. The first EMUs were installed at Clifton Springs on the Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria in 2023 itself. They have proven to be highly successful and have created a complex range of habitats for varied marine life like mussels, oysters, and banjo rays, among others. Also, they lead to the formation of in-built rock pools that provide an intertidal habitat that birds love to feed on. Reef Design Lab’s EMUs are the rightful winner of 2023’s Good Design Award for Sustainability.

Conclusion

The Australian Good Design Awards is Australia’s highest design honor. It is recognized by the World Design Organization (WDO) as Australia’s top-most international design endorsement program. The awards honor entries from a vast range of industrial sectors.

Do comment and let me know your thoughts on the winners of the Special Accolades of the Australian Good Design Awards.