Design Event MART Awards/ David Irwin/ 'Miners Lamp', detail
The 2011 Design Event MART Awards were held at the opening of Newcastle’s 4 day cultural festival last night. The winners will be displaying their designs alongside the work of 19 other designers and makers as part of the MART exhibition held in the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art.
Taking home the Best Interior Product Award was David Irwin with his ‘Miners Lamp’ design.
“I wanted to create something that has a link to the industrial heritage of the north of England,” explains David, “An idea then evolved to design a small domestic light re-appropriating the mining lamp by referencing both its form and functional nature. Integrating features from various mining lamps such as a handle for carrying and hanging, a removable base for storing the flex and a rotating conical reflector for directing light has produced an immensely versatile product.”
Hannah Wales/ 'Sili Mugs'
Most Innovative Use of Material went to Northumbria Uni graduate Hannah Wales and her silicone mugs. Hannah took full advantage of silicone’s tactile nature, creating designs which tempt the user to touch and hold the mugs. The finishes which Hannah has incorporated into the designs gives the illusion of different textures and textiles.
'Desk Accessory' range/ Tatsuya Akita
Finally, Tatsuya Akita’s Desk Accessory range claimed the top prize in not only the Best Retail Product category, but in the Most Forward Thinking Product category as well! Tatsuya graduated from Northumbria University this year after studying furniture and product design. He creates minimal yet functional products and his Desk Accessory range is made from wood, metal and concrete.
“My intention for these mixed media desk accessories was to keep it simple, functional, and practical,” explains Tatsuya. “I first thought of wood parts to jointing components for metal spun parts. It is possible to make metal parts fix to each other, but I wanted to explore different ways to fix them. Therefore, I came up with an idea of wooden rings. This range of desk accessories uses these wooden rings as a jointing feature.”
Visit the Design Event site for full listings of the festival running October 14-18 2011.
David Irwin
Hannah Wales
Tatsuya Akita
Award Ceremony photographs by Helen Stevens.
