People’s Choice Award & Best HP Future Design

Urbis Designday 2011 People’s Choice Award and Best HP Future Designer winners announced

Thirteen stunning installations produced by over 50 creative practitioners from worlds of fashion, art, architecture, multimedia and design captured the imagination and attention of a record number of Urbis Designday guests last Saturday as they voted in the 2011 Urbis Designday People’s Choice Award and their favourite HP Future Designer.

With the votes tallied, the dynamic partnership of Kohler and Salasai walked away with the public’s vote this year. Kohler, the worldwide leader in quality, cutting edge bathroom products combined with Salasai; one of New Zealand’s fastest emerging fashion brands known for its androgynous approach to fashion.

Editor of Urbis, Nicole Stock was delighted that in 2011 the public, not the industry voted for their favourites this Urbis Designday. “Urbis Designday allows the public to see and experience the amazing creativity of designers up close; it enables us to pull all the creativity from the magazine and put it in front of a discerning and design loving audience” she says.

“The standard of the 13 installations was so high this year, and the young designers work so innovative, that it’s really set the tone and expectation for an even better 2012 Urbis Designday!”

The votes were extremely close but it was Kohler and Salasai’s unique translation of the 2011 Urbis Designday brief ‘State of Transition’ that captivated the audience. The collaboration focused on the idea of change and transition through nature’s four elements: earth fire, air and water with colour and music.

The award was announced at the Urbis Designday Wrap Party held on Tuesday March 22nd at the unique MINI Garage in Ponsonby, Auckland. Urbis Designday Wrap Party guests were unanimous that the new People’s Choice Award was a great addition to the event, creating good natured competition amongst the participating creative’s with each showroom doing its best to woo the Designday guests as they arrived to enjoy the different installations.

The HP Future Designer competition was another demonstration of the incredible talents of graduates from the Design School who worked alongside HP to create a series of mind bending 30second full CG commercials, with each team vying to take out the prestigious title. The outstanding ‘Cookies and Scream’ animation from Jonathan Sothern, Ejiwa Ebenebe, Tiana McKenzie, Antony Carter was voted the winner.