By Craig Zammit
SYDNEY: The Australian Design Awards has announced that as of 2008 all professionally-designed products available for sale in Australia, not just those designed in Australia, will be accepted for consideration, with a new website and an international judging panel on the way.
The new Australian Design Awards will be launched in September 2007, to coincide with the 50-year anniversary of design assessment and promotion in Australia, with a new online design promotion portal to be developed dedicated to highlighting Australian design achievements through the new Australian Design Awards.
The online portal will be located at http://www.australiandesign.org.au and will continue the vital role of raising the profile of Australian design nationally and internationally.
Additionally, in order to compete in the same arena as internationally regarded design awards such as Red Dot, iF, Good Design Award and IDEA, and to provide the same level of service to the Australian Industrial Design community, the Australian Design Awards will aim to become one of the foremost design assessment and promotion bodies in the world.
“Going global is the next progressive step to achieving greater success for Australian design. In principle, this plan has been approved and wholeheartedly embraced by the majority of the Australian design industry and Standards Australia’s key stakeholders,” said a statement from the Australian Design Awards.
“With the primary aim to foster a stronger culture of design in Australia, the new Australian Design Awards will also provide a clear, consistent indicator of good design at point-of-sale no longer limited to Australian design only; a means by which Australian design may compete on an international scale; a forum through which Australian design may gain exposure to an international client base; a more realistic representation of design competition as a global activity; a process through which Australian design may become more globally competitive; a more accurate benchmark of universal design; a greater demand for design in Australia by appealing to more consumers and creating a greater need for design strategy in product manufacture and business.
“A review of the current application, assessment and presentation formats is currently underway to cater for an influx of professionally designed entries from a larger range of product manufacturers worldwide. The program’s brand, award recognition scheme and registered trademarks are also under review to ensure a more universal approach to design assessment and promotion,” the statement said.
Further information on the roll-out of the new Australian Design Awards can be found at www.designawards.com.au.