Collaboration has become a defining feature of the Australian creative and design industries. This award celebrates the brilliant outcomes of cross disciplinary collaboration.
This category seeks to award one collaborative design project, where two or more separate creative practitioners, businesses or entities have come together to create one collaborative product, product range, installation, built structure or other creative project.
One winning project in the Collaboration category will be awarded a $2000 cash prize. Up to two commendations will also be awarded. Where two or more Applicants enter jointly but do not hold an ABN as a partnership, one nominated individual will receive payment on behalf of the Applicants (and the prize will have been deemed to have been received by the relevant Applicant. The Design Files will not split payment of prize monies.)
Shortlisted entries will be assessed by three expert judges, on the following criteria :
Fulfilment of the client brief / project objective
Originality – something we haven’t seen before, something invented from scratch.
Visual Appeal – beauty, boldness, aesthetic appeal.
Craftsmanship – how well does this project demonstrate mastery of a craft?
Function – how well does the object deliver the desired functional outcomes?
Sustainability – how well does this project contribute to positive environmental outcomes, with specific consideration of local environmental impact, management and reduction of waste, water and energy consumption?
Visionary thinking – does this project push boundaries, does it achieve something bigger than the intended commercial outcomes?
Bonus points will be awarded to projects with pro bono or community focussed outcomes, and/or projects limited by an unusually tiny budget.
The Walmajarri phrase ‘Ngumu Jangka Warnti’ meaning ‘whole lot from rubbish’, is the title of this furniture collaboration between Nyikina man and saddler, Johnny Nargoodah, and furniture/object designer, Trent Jansen.
Johnny and Trent salvaged a selection of discarded aluminium mesh and used this found metal as the starting point for experimentation. The duo designed these pieces as they made them, starting with a mesh substrate cut vaguely in the shape of a chair, and together beat the material with hammers, concrete blocks and tree stumps until it took on a form that they both liked. This beaten geometry was then softened by laminating New Zealand saddle leather to skin the mesh, masking its geometry and softening its idiosyncratic undulations.
The Solar Pavilion is one of 15 pilot projects by leading Australian architects commissed by Finding Infinity for ‘A New Normal’: a comprehensive plan for Melbourne to become a fully self-sufcient city by 2030. John Wardle Architects designed a network of outdoor structures atop an inner-city rooftop that doubles as a cultural events space and surface area for solar electricity generation. Artist Ash Keating created the mural overlooking it.
An ongoing collaboration between Ikuntji artists and Publisher Textiles sees paintings of Country and Dreaming by artists practising at the Central Desert arts centre screen-printed onto contemporary fashion pieces. Expansion into clothing has opened a new revenue stream for the Ikuntji artists as well as an opportunity for professional development in garment-making skills.
Amanda Henderson launched her event design and visual merchandising business, Gloss Creative, 20 years ago. What ensued has been a stellar career of incredible large-scale event design and visual merchandising concepts, including a spectacular recreation of Versailles inside a racing marquee, collaborating with artist Bill Henson, and even making it rain on a fashion runway.
Tyrone Wright, aka Rone, is one of Australia’s most accomplished modern painters. Originally part of Melbourne’s early 2000s fledgling street art movement, the artist is now a fixture on the international street art scene, renowned for his large-scale wall paintings and immersive installations exploring beauty and decay.
Jirra Lulla Harvey is a Koorie woman who works with First Nations creatives to build impactful businesses. She is the founder of Kalinya Retreats, a place for Aboriginal entrepreneurs and friends to talk business under the stars.
An ongoing collaboration between Ikuntji artists and Publisher Textiles sees paintings of Country and Dreaming by artists practising at the Central Desert arts centre screen-printed onto contemporary fashion pieces. Expansion into clothing has opened a new revenue stream for the Ikuntji artists as well as an opportunity for professional development in garment-making skills.
The Solar Pavilion is one of 15 pilot projects by leading Australian architects commissed by Finding Infinity for ‘A New Normal’: a comprehensive plan for Melbourne to become a fully self-sufcient city by 2030. John Wardle Architects designed a network of outdoor structures atop an inner-city rooftop that doubles as a cultural events space and surface area for solar electricity generation. Artist Ash Keating created the mural overlooking it.
Flowers Vasette created ‘Arch of Celebration / Arch of Resilience’ for ‘Urban Blooms’ – a partnership with the City of Melbourne’s Recovery Fund to celebrate the reopening of Victoria in November 2020. The magnificent floral structure featured over 1300 stems of flowers and foliage and flowers installed on an 18 metre archway.
A collaboration between Nyikina man and saddler Johnny Nargoodah and furniture/object designer Trent Jansen sees salvaged scrap metal bent into structural form and covered with beaten leather. The pair created the designs remotely, developing a collaborative ‘sketch exchange’ system to ferry prototype designs between Johnny’s home in Fitzroy Crossing and Trent’s on the south-east coast of NSW.
ROU House is a new design studio founded by designers Rachel Byron and Tom Skeehan. Its flagship product is the Peak Inverted Incense Burner: a handcrafted aluminium holder that conceals the burning stick at the apex of the vessel while ash collects in the base.
Tasked with designing a ‘new neighbourhood local’ within a double-fronted terrace on Melbourne’s iconic Gertrude Street, Bergman & Co. and Please Please Please designed the 200-person venue with references to classic Italian diners interwoven with hints to the 20th century Australian-Italian suburban experience.
Mud Australia partnered with artists from APY Art Centre Collective on an exhibition of 30 hand painted Mud ceramics. As well as contributing 80% of all sales directly to the participating art centres, access to resources including kilns and ceramic materials enabled Anangu from the remote APY Lands to develop new skills and production techniques.
New and existing CASTLE designs are recrafted on a line of gender-neutral childrenswear and accessories.
A three-piece footwear collection of classic TWOOBS silhouettes printed with contemporary artwork by Glenda McCulloch of Cungelella Arts.
The Aboriginal-owned, female-led childrenswear label collaborated with artist Arkie Beaton on a print depicting floral energy in bright bursts of colour.