A record 111 products ranging from agricultural and medical equipment to consumer appliances and sporting goods are finalists in Standards Australia’s prestigious design awards program.

Lightweight wine bottles, an easy-to-fold pram, portable ultrasound device, sheep vaccination gun, and an underground residential LPG gas system are among finalists announced today in the 2010 Australian International Design Awards.
Presented by Standards Australia, the Australian International Design Awards is Australia’s premier design assessment program, recognising Australian and international design and innovation excellence.
Stephanie Pemberton, Program Director of the awards program said six panels of judges spent 10 days assessing more than 200 products on their design merits.

“With more products shortlisted than ever before, this year’s judging panels were faced with an immense task. They cooked, cleaned, pulled products apart, self-diagnosed with medical devices, and even ran with high-tech sporting equipment,” Ms Pemberton said. “Products that clearly showed a considered approach to the professional design process, incorporating some level of innovation and environmentally-responsible decisions, rated highly with the judges,” she said.

“It’s exciting to see companies – big and small – embracing design strategy to assist in business success.”
Finalists in the 2010 Australian International Design Awards cover a range of categories including Consumer; Business and Technology; Medical and Scientific; Automotive and Transport; Sport and Leisure; Housing and Building; Heavy Machinery; and Architectural and Interior Products. Examples include:

•Emotiv EPOC gaming headset – that reads brain signals and facial expressions
•Pelleres forearm weights – to strengthen core muscles
•Malvern Star Bicycle Frame – Australian-designed carbon fibre frame
•Billabong lightweight wetsuit
•Optiline sheep drench gun – for oral treatment of parasitic worms
•Cochlear Nucleus 5 System
•Underground LPG storage system
•Coffee machines from De’Longhi, Jura, Siemens and Breville
•LG plasma and LCD TVs
•Barbecues
•Samsung refrigerator and washer/dryer
•Lightweight wine bottles
•Termite detection device
•10 different vehicles, including models from Audi, Land Rover, Hyundai, Peugeot, Chevrolet, Nissan and Mazda
•Task/office chairs
•Evoke conference and stadium seat

International Design Award for design excellence. The top prize, the Australian International Design Award of the Year is awarded to one product that the judges believe represents world class design.

Winners of the 2010 Australian International Design Awards, including the 2010 Australian International Design Award of the Year plus a special Award for Excellence in Sustainable Design, will be announced on Friday 4 June 2010 at Wharf 8 in Sydney.

Conceptual designs created by 13 industrial design students from universities across Australia have been named as Finalists for the 2010 Australian Design Award – James Dyson Award, the student category of Standard Australia’s Australian International Design Awards, run in partnership with Dyson.

Background
The 2010 Australian International Design Awards program has attracted a record 202 industry entries and a further 98 student entries, representing a 27% increase on 2009.

In the Final Round Assessment stage, shortlisted products were assessed by multidisciplinary panels of Australian and international experts in relevant design disciplines.

Judges had the opportunity to physically test entries from a usability perspective, and rank the design merits of each product against a common set of criteria including innovation, visual and emotional appeal, functionality, quality of manufacture, human factors such as ergonomics, semantics and safety, and environmental sustainability.

Past winners in the Australian International Design Awards include the Qantas A380 Economy Seat, Flaik snowsports tracking device, Gator LED bike headlight, and Ford Territory.
Accolades up for grabs:
Australian International Design Award of the Year – one only
Australian International Design Award - multiple
Australian International Design Mark – multiple
Associated accolades:
Powerhouse Museum Design Award and Selection
Award for Excellence in Sustainable Design
Australian Design Award – James Dyson Award for excellence in student design