CREATIVE JOURNEY
FOUR EMERGING DESIGNERS DISCUSS THEIR ASPIRATIONS
Adelaide design student Brianna Hammond (right) will be winging her way to Europe in just a few months, after winning a coveted scholarship with the prestigious Fabrica “creative laboratory” in Italy.
Brianna, 20, is about to complete her Bachelor of Design (Visual Communication) at the University of SA before spending a two-week trail period at Fabrica which is Benetton’s research centre in Treviso, Italy.
If successful, she may go on to score a one-year placement at the talent incubator, which gives designers younger than 25 the chance to work and learn with other young artists and designers from around the globe.
“I’m from Tumby Bay, my family are all there, so it won’t be a new thing being away from home but I guess I’m a little bit nervous about going away on my own,” Brianna says.
Brianna entered a multi-media project in the NewStar exhibition, part of the agIdeas International Design Forum Melbourne which awards the scholarship.
“I entered in the multi-media section, I thought that would stand out, and included animation set to music, a website and then decided to include some photos I’d taken as part of my course,” she says.
“I’d taken a lot of photos of bearded guys and made it into a health campaign idea so the point behind it was ‘Movember is over, but you can keep supporting prostate cancer because it’s now Decembeard’.”
Brianna, the fifth UniSA student to win the scholarship, says her campaign fits in with Fabrica’s interest in creative work that tackles social and environmental issues.
“They’re not just interested in pretty websites and design which purely looks nice but has no meaning,” she says
Brianna leaves for Italy in January and will spend the two week trial living and working at Fabrica’s headquarters, a striking building designed by Japanese architect Tadao Ando.
www.youtube.com/user/brihammonddesign
www.fabrica.it
CREATURE COMFORT
Industrial design student Jaime Sanchez took inspiration from his young daughters when creating the ingenious Dinosaur chair which doubles as a toy.
The Dinosaur chair was a finalist in this year’s prestigious Vivid Awards in Melbourne which are a national showcase for emerging designers.
Jaime, 38, of Torrensville, says he wanted to build an object for his daughters Eva, 3, and Lola, 1, which wasn’t just a toy but also required their input to construct.
“The chair is very much like those little plywood dinosaur models kids used to have and that shape really lends itself to a chair,” he says.
It is easy to construct and assemble - kids just push open the “bones”. It is also safe with no fixtures and fittings and its shape makes it easy to flat pack.
Jaime says he made a lot of industry contacts at Vivid and met several furniture retailers who expressed an interest in stocking the dinosaur chair but he is still looking for a manufacturer to back the project.
Jaime, a senior business analyst who is studying industrial design part time at the University of SA, says he enjoys product design and the challenge of creating design solutions to make life easier.
His latest project is a cube-shaped bookshelf which can be configured to store objects of all shapes and sizes.
sanchez@bigpond.net.au
HOOKED ON DESIGN
The most successful product in the Two Halves design range typifies the adage “from small things, big things grow”.
The Adelaide company’s Jack and Jill coat hooks were intended as an easy way for product designers – Austin Brandon and Daniel Scott - to have a presence in the wholesale market but they have become so popular they are produced in their thousands and help fund the designers’ other projects.
Austin and Daniel established their business in 2006, after graduating from the University of SA’s industrial design course.
Encouraged by the success of having their Quartered coffee table shortlisted for the Launchpad design award, they decided to set up a studio to make and sell their own products. They also had designs featured in the 2007 and 2008 Launchpad Awards.
“When we finished the industrial design course we had that real uni mentality that we could do anything,” Austin says.
Daniel: “We were making and selling furniture through own shop but the costs on the retail side were just too high.”
The Jack and Jill coat hooks were a result of going back to the drawing board and coming up with an alternative product.
“We wanted something that was simple, just one component,” Daniel says.
Austin says he didn’t ever expect to be selling hooks but acknowledged the product was teaching them a lot about business.
“From where we initially started we’ve changed a lot with making and developing products our focus, rather than selling (retail),” Daniel says.
Other projects being developed by Two Halves include a wine rack and plank light, while a new larger version of the Jack and Jill hooks will be launched shortly.
The pair admits to being idealistic about still wanting to design and sell their own furniture but say they will wait until they have the “right” piece.
“Making other products and getting them out there still gives me a lot of satisfaction,” Austin says.
twohalvesdesign.blogspot.com
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