In recent years, Sustainable Design has moved past its pop-culture status to form a key requirement of any good design process. Sustainable Designs allow us to live, work and play in such a way that is more efficient, profitable, secure and pleasurable but most importantly a way that does not compromise our future. Now as one of the defining ideas of the 21st century, Sustainability holds tremendous possibilities for designers.

The Design Institute of Australia’s Australasian Student Design Awards (ASDA) fosters the future of Sustainable Design practice by rewarding the region’s best emerging designers. As the foremost student design awards, the ASDA multidisciplinary program attracts an exceptional range, depth and quality of entries.
The DIA invites Australian and New Zealand tertiary design institutes to nominate their top student design projects that reflect design excellence and adopt innovative Sustainable Design principles.

Now in its 15th year, the DIA presents the ASDA in conjunction with designEX. Entries will be judged and displayed at this premier interior architecture and design exhibition which attracts over 20,000 Australian and International design professionals.

The ASDA prize pool includes cash prizes, travel scholarships, art & design supplies, DIA
memberships and ASDA certificates.
 

Design Institute of Australia
The DIA is the voice of professional design in Australia and has been actively improving the community recognition and status of designers since 1947. The DIA is the only multidisciplinary organisation representing designers in Australia. The organisation promotes the value of design and designers to industry, business, government and the community. The DIA provides a vibrant networking base on a state, national and international level. Through its international affiliations, the DIA links its members with designers in over 40 countries.
 

Who can enter?

Entry is open to design projects created in 2nd Semester 2009 or 1st Semester 2010 from entrants aged 18 years or older as at the date of entry who are:

• Permanent residents of Australia and New Zealand or international students under a Student Visa in Australia and New Zealand.

• Currently studying, full time equivalent or apprentice tertiary courses at a Certificate III, Certificate IV, Diploma or Advanced Diploma or Degree level or graduated from any of these courses in Semester 2 2009.

Why enter?

The ASDA program offers great opportunities for young designers:

• Expose your work to a national and international design audience
• Gain positive public recognition of your skills as an innovative emerging designer
• Gain peer recognition of your work
• Launch your new design and ideas into the market place
• Media attention through media releases circulated to major media outlets and features on the DIA Website, tri-annual Newsletter “Spark”, Facebook page and weekly E-Newsletter
• Winning work will also be recognized by prizes and Australasian Student Design
Awards 2010 Certificate

Entry process:

1. Educators – Visit http://www.design.org.au/asda, download and read ASDA Call for Entries which includes Category descriptions, Judging Criteria and Terms & Conditions.

2. Educators – Visit www.design.org.au/asda to register your school and pay $60 (incl GST) + booking fee per entry by 17/3/2010

3. Educators – Judge your students overall body of work and submit your Entrant Nominations Form outlining
your top three student projects per category by email or fax by 1/4/2010

4. Educators – Send the Entry Specifications to your nominated Students.

5. Entrants – Once nominated, read the Entry Specifications and submit your project in the form of a presentation board and PDF on CD by 9/4/2010

Categories:

SPACE
1. Interior Design
Residential, commercial or retail applications: designs should consider and resolve the treatment of space and spatial volume, structural requirements, traffic flow, furniture, fixtures, furnishings, overall lighting plans, surface finishes and sustainable design practices.

2. Interior Decoration
Residential or commercial applications: designs should consider surface decoration including colour applications in paint, fabric and furnishings, overall lighting plans and sustainable design practices.

3. Exhibition / Display Design
Trade, retail or exhibition applications: designs should outline furnishings, fixtures, display stands, signage, visitor flow, overall floor plan and sustainable design practices.

IMAGE
4. Visual Design
2D text, symbol or picture based applications: designs should have particular emphasis on clarity of communication, the matching of information styles to audience requirements and sustainable design practices.
 

OBJECT
5. Industrial Design
Object, light fixtures or packaging applications: designs should focus on functional and aesthetic aspects, human usage and behavior, and sustainable design practices.

6. Jewellery Design
Wearable applications: designs should pay particular attention to ergonomic, functional and aesthetic aspects, and sustainable design practices.

7. Furniture Design
Movable object applications: designs should allow for all aspects of furniture that relate to human usage and behaviour, product appeal and sustainable design practices.

8. Textile Design
Fabric applications for use in furniture, soft furnishings, clothing, vehicles, finishes, plastics or other products: designs should consider aesthetic and functional aspects, materials, weights, textures and sustainable design practices.

9. Fashion Design – new 2010
Wearable applications: designs should include a focus on functional and aesthetic aspects, pay particular attention to relationship of the apparel to the human form and sustainable design practices.
 

Judging:

The ASDA Judging Panels consist of highly respected experts in each design discipline. Each entry will be assessed on the following equally weighted criteria:

Sustainability:
• Demonstrated understanding and use of sustainable resources
• Consideration of economic, social and ecological design practices

Concept:
• Clear understanding of the parameters of the original brief from tertiary course work
• Evidence of research, development and resolution of the original brief from tertiary course work

Creativity:
• Innovative ideas translated from conceptual approach
• Effective communication of ideas

Space / Function / Materials / Technology (where appropriate):
• Design intent reflects and is supported by spatial arrangement
• Demonstrated functional practicality
• Appropriate and innovative selection of materials
• Demonstrated understanding, integration and resolution of manufacturing processes
 

2009 Overall Winners:

Nazia Kachwalla - The Museum of Ephemera: Interior Design of the Museum of Wellington City and Sea - Victorian University of Wellington

Ching Tan - Aqua Anytime - Swinburne University