Winners Announced for ECC NZ Student Craft / Design Awards 2015

We were thrilled to be the naming sponsor for the third year for the 2015's ECC NZ Student Craft / Design Awards. Entries were received in the fields of: Lighting Design, Furniture and Product Design, Glass and Ceramics, Jewellery and Textiles and Fashion Design.

ECC has a long history of supporting design students. Partnering with an organisation like the Dowse and the other sponsors is a great way to support New Zealand tertiary students through an Award scheme designed to encourage innovation and creativity specifically in the areas of design and craft.

At an awards celebration at The Dowse Art Museum on Thursday 24th September, the Supreme Award ($2,000 prize money) was awarded to Hilary Ng for her Textile and Fashion Design entry NG. Hilary is a student from Massey University in Wellington who is currently studying Fashion Design. The Rembrandt Textile and Fashion Award was also won by Hilary ($1,000 prize money).

The ECC Lighting Award was awarded to Joshua Lee for his entry: Shibui Pendant ($1,000 prize money). The Shibui Pendant was lightly constructed using a computerized knitting machine which carefully knits the soft, New Zealand merino wool yarn into the elegantly soft pendant light. Joshua is a student from the Auckland University of Technology.

The ECC Furniture and Product Design Award ($1,000 prize money) was won by Marvin Reber who is a student from Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland. His entry 'Inclusion Couch' was designed to provide multiple uses for multiple users. Primarily, the main function is for it to be a couch. The secondary function allows the individual components to be rearranged into a playful set of playground-like structures. The inherent couch-like aesthetics remain even though the form has changed. Much like a playground, the open-ended nature of the objects allows for imagination and exploration.

The Tuatara Glass & Ceramics Award ($1,000 prize money) was won by Abby Farrow with her entry 'Nomadiceramics.' Abby is a student at Massey University of Wellington studying Industrial Design. Her carafe is comprised of slip-casted ceramic and a mossy twig. It is an archetypal critique on the modern nomad. This vessel holds and pours water. it changes states: standing upright when empty and a horizontal position when full. The twig partially covers the hole in the top creating a steady flow of liquid. It conveys the conceptual foundation of movement, change, travel, culture, experience and growth.

The Village Goldsmith Jewellery Award ($1,000 prize money) was awarded to Sandra Schmid of Whitireia, Wellington for her entry 'Rockstars.' 

Stones are universal and we are constantly surrounded by them. Used in numerous ways, they are appreciated for their hardness, their qualities to be shapeable, durable and lots more. They give us shelter and safety, keep us cool or warm. On a personal level they might carry memories or spiritual powers.  They are taken or placed, touched or thrown, adorned or worthless, sacred or discarded. Like stones we come from different places, but we are shaped by our environment. We keep our identity - like stone their properties. Over the years, exposed to nature’s forces, edges are worn and cracks may occur.

The ECC People’s Choice Award ($1,000 prize money) was won by Kieren Thomas, Victoria University, Wellington for his “Glowsticks” table lamp.

Glowsticks comprises of two thin mahogany LED light bars and a polished concrete base. A subtle toggle switch at each end of the sticks allows the lamp to be switched on and off. The user has the ability to interact with the device to control the amount of light emitted through simply rotating one or both of the sticks to the desired angle. Glowsticks is a redesign of the common desk lamp, simplicity and elegance was key to this project along with the relationship between the soft warm material that is Mahogany and the cold brutality of industrial concrete.