The Launch Pad program returns in 2017, a literal launch pad for developing designers to put forth their concept and prototypes in a bid to have their designs realised and sent on a journey through to production.
For 2017, Launch Pad is joining the INDE.Awards to help elevate Asia Pacific design on the global stage – a truly inspiring initiative, and a fantastic opportunity for our combined region’s emerging design talent to weigh-in on the direction A+D will be taking tomorrow.
With authenticity and innovation as the central pillars of Launch Pad’s philosophy, we’re inviting emerging creative talent to enter the programme, pitch their design and open up a direct line of communication to the local and international A+D community.
Entries for Launch Pad close 17th April, 2017
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This year the Launch Pad program is welcoming to the panel a group of 9 highly acclaimed judges representing a broad spectrum of design specialties and areas of expertise, to come together and review your 2017 Launch Pad entries.
The Judging panel will select a list of finalists to show their work in the Launch Pad Finalists’ Exhibition as part of the INDE.Awards Gala Night, and thereafter featured at Australia’s premier design museum The Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney. This platform represents an unprecedented coup for our Launch Pad finalists, attracting the attention of a truly global audience.
This year’s entrants have put their designs in the spotlight, right under the noses of the who’s who of design. We would like to extend a warm welcome, and special thanks (in advance!), to this year’s Launch Pad jury. Why not say ‘Hi!’:
Presenting your 2017 Launch Pad Jury
Keinton Butler is the Senior Curator of Design and Architecture at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney. As a graduate of Furniture Technology at RMIT in Melbourne, Butler’s expertise extends across key development sin furniture production through computer-integrated manufacturing, numerical control and materials technology. After a decade-stint in London as an independent design curator collaborating with leading cultural institutions including the British Council and London Design Festival, Butler became a curator for Damien Hirst’s contemporary art publishing project Other Criteria. Drawing upon these strong entrepreneurial skills, manufacturing and design expertise, Butler recently co-founded the British furniture start-up Beynon – the 2015 winner of the Furniture Category at the World Interiors News Awards.
Angela Ferguson is the Managing Director an Owner of Futurespace where she assists clients to realise future-focused, innovative, intelligent and practical physical spaces to truly inspire. Passionate about the built environment and the positive impact that it can have on individuals and corporate communities, Ferguson has worked with an enormous array of global and Australian businesses for more than 2 decades. Her expertise is diverse across the workplace, education, residential, building refurbishment and childcare sectors, including ground-breaking work for private enterprise and NFP Organisations.
Dr. Brandon Gien is the Founder and CEO of Good Design Australia, and Chair of Australia’s Good Design Awards programme. in 2015 Dr. Gien was inaugurated as a Senator of the World Design Organisation’s body for international industrial design. As a member of the Board of Directors for 3 consecutive terms and elected President of the organisation from 2013-2015, he is the first Australian to hold this position to date. Dr. Gien is a Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, recognising his contribution to the design profession in this country. Sitting on the Advisory Board for a number of design associations and educational institutions worldwide, he has also acted as a juror on some of this planet’s most prestigious design awards.
Helen Kontouris is a Melbourne-based designer inspired constantly y her observation of everyday experiences. With a eye for recognising the individual differences in people’s interaction with objects combined with absolutely fresh perspectives gained from travel, her work at Helen Kontouris Design is distinct for the use of contrasting materials and sculptural forms. Her work invites exploration and an intimate sensory engagement. For Helen Kontouris Design, every project is unique and extensive research underpins each product’s development. Process drives the generation of form for Kontouris, and much more so than any predetermined or established principle.
Aidan Mawhinney is the Director of Living Edge – one of Launch Pad’s Founding Partners for 16 years. With an illustrious career supplying the best design work for the A+D community across Australia, Mawhinney is considered one of this country’s most discerning curators of taste and design. Living Edge – an Australian frontrunner and definite design hot-spot for architects, interior designers and design enthusiasts – is dedicated to offering only the best in design whether from the minute single piece in one’s home to the mammoth design schemes on large scale commercial projects.
Anton Schiavello is the Design and Marketing Director of Schiavello International – one of this country’s leading design-driven brands, and Launch Pad 2017’s Official Partner. Committed to delivering the company’s core vision that anything is possible, Anton is responsible for co-ordinating business strategy, marketing, product development and design excellence for Schiavello’s impressive portfolio of local and international brands (quite a huge feat!). Schaivello’s ethos is driven by principles of thoughtful research and detail, quality manufacturing and approachable design. After spending 5 years in Singapore and much time in Asia on large and small-scale projects for global and Australian businesses, Anton’s passion for strategic design and critical thinking will be of invaluable insight for our 2017 Launch Pad finalists.
Raymond Scott‘s advanced expertise in the fields of film production and development is astounding. After spending 10 years working in Europe, a combined passion for film and design lead him to pursue a conjoined approach to design and our creative entertainment industries. Upon returning to Australia, he was instrumental in elevating the Australian film industry, and broadening its involvement across the full spectrum of this country’s related disciplines in the corporate, cultural and tourism sectors. Having been involved with Workshopped for the past 13 years, and the Director for the past 7 of those, he has opened one of Sydney’s premier design locations – Design Store – in a number of suburbs which showcases emerging designers to the design-hunter public as part of Workshopped’s programme Object.
Henry Wilson is a designer based in Sydney, and one of Australia’s most top-tier talents. After graduating from Visual Arts (specialising in woodwork) from the Australian National University in Canberra, Wilson received the HSP Huygens Scholarship for Postgraduate Studies (Design) at the Design Academy in Eindhoven. In 2012, Wilson established a research and conceptual design studio, producing products, furniture, and interiors that are unimpeachably considered and durable, with a consistent focus on honest resolutions and longevity. This studio – Studio Henry Wilson – is based in Sydney and distributed internationally through matter in New York and Very Good + Proper in London.
Launch Pad 2017 is presented in partnership with:
Schiavello (Official Partner)
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Living Edge (Founding Partner)
