Sunbeam and Breville again dominate Australian Design Awards

By James Wells

SYDNEY: Sunbeam and Breville are likely to once again dominate the judging in the prestigious Australian Design Awards after the two brands received eight nominations in the initial shortlist for the 2007 event which was announced this afternoon.

The two market leaders in small appliances have once again dominated the shortlisted products in consumer category of the awards which is traditionally a duel to claim bragging rights as the best design studio of its kind in Sydney.

The five Sunbeam products recognised were the Multiblender Electronic blender, the Ceramic Series kettle, the Conical Burr Coffee Grinder, the Avalanche Ice Shaver and the Accura Digital Resilium iron.

The three Breville products recognised were the BJE510 Breville ikon Juicer, the BES400 ikon Espresso Machine and the BBL600 ikon Blender.

The number of products shortlisted from both brands is exactly the same as last year, however even though Sunbeam had the initial lead in terms of the number of products 12 months ago, Breville was the only brand to win a prestigious Australian Design Award.

Earlier this year, Breville won an Australian Design Award for its Juice Fountain – becoming the only product in the award’s history to win awards for two versions of the same product. Breville first won an Australian Design Award for the product in 2002.

Products that receive an Australian Design Award, are products that have in the opinion of the judges, met and exceeded all judging criteria including innovation, intelligence, visual impact, functionality, originality, quality, ergonomics, safety, value for money and eco-design.  They have also proven to add significant value to Australia’s cultural and design identity.

Among the products which won DesignMarks in 2006 and consequently became finalists for Australian Design Awards were: the Electrolux Jeppe Utzon Barbecue, the Sunbeam EM6900 Twin Thermoblock Twin Pump espresso machine, the Breville BKE450 Moda kettle and the Philips HTS 8000 home theatre system.

Products which were eliminated after the first round of judging in 2006 included the Philips 190C6 19-inch LCD monitor, the Breville BES200 Bar Vista espresso machine and four Sunbeam products – the WD5800/5810 wet to dry ionic hair straightener, the PB9500 Café Series blender, the EM0480 Café Series conical burr coffee grinder and the SM8650 StickMaster stick blender series.