With new initiatives.
The rich history of design will be celebrated at the Sydney Opera House when the Good Design Awards take place on May 17, 2018. As well as showcasing the best of Australian and international design in its 60th anniversary year, a number of new awards and initiatives have been launched.
The annual Good Design Awards program is one of the oldest and most prestigious international events of its kind in the world, promoting excellence in design and innovation since 1958. It is recognised by the World Design Organization as Australia’s peak international design endorsement program.
The awards acknowledge the outstanding achievements of designers across 10 design disciplines spanning more than 30 categories: from the best new products and services on the Australian market; excellence in architectural design; digital and communication design and emerging areas of design including business model innovation, social innovation and design entrepreneurship.
Good Design Australia CEO, Dr Brandon Gien said, “Good design has the transformative power to create better and more efficient products, services and spaces. Our world needs good design now more than ever. Ultimately, we see design contributing to a better society and a more sustainable and prosperous world”.
The new initiatives include categories for Fashion Design and Engineering Design and accolades comprising the Better World Award, Good Design Team of the Year Award and an Indigenous Designer Award.
The ultimate design tribute, Good Design Award of the Year, is given to one overall winning product, service or project that represents ground breaking design at an international level. Recent winners included Cochlear for the Cochlear Nucleus 24 Contour hearing implant system; Australian designer Marc Newson for his economy class seat for the Qantas A380; Hollywood director, James Cameron for his Deepsea Challenger Submarine; the Tesla Model S and Flow Hive, a beehive design that produces honey with the turn of a handle.
The Good Design Award judging panel consists of leading international and Australian design experts selected on their area of expertise and ability to bring an individual perspective to the evaluation process. The awards assess all entries based on three overarching design criteria including Good Design, Design Innovation and Design Impact.
As well as the awards ceremony, the Good Design Showcase Exhibition will be held at the Overseas Passenger Terminal from May 25-27. This free exhibition brings together more than 300 award-winning and game-changing designs from the last six decades and is part of Vivid Sydney, the world’s biggest festival of light, music and ideas.
Entries for the 2018 Good Design Awards close on March 9.