awards + competitions

As if you needed further proof that Pratt Institute is an art and design education powerhouse, the Brooklyn institution has announced the five ultra-accomplished alumni that will be honored next month for their exceptional achievements since graduating. Get a load of this group: Arem Duplessis, design director for The New York Times Magazine; artist Ik-Joong Kang; designer Ted Muehling; photographer Sylvia Plachy; and Annabelle Selldorf, founder and principal of Selldorf Architects. They’ll receive their awards at a March 9 luncheon at The Modern (designed by a Pratt alum, natch), where we have a feeling that pastry chef Marc Aumont—a skilled sugar artist and chocolate sculptor—will whip up a special something to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the school’s founding, ideally served with a generous scoop of his salted butter-caramel ice cream.

Create a clear, strategic approach to the way you use Facebook to market your business in our new Facebook Marketing Boot Camp. The online conference and workshop starts April 24. Learn more.

The visual savants over at the Society of Publication Designers won’t announce the winners of their annual awards bonanza—now in its 47th year—until May 11, at a fancy bash at Cipriani in New York. However, the judging wrapped up last weekend, with co-chairs Luke Hayman, Richard Turley, and Jeremy Leslie overseeing the print judging, Scher Foord and Joe Zeff supervising the digital judging, and Robert Newman chairing the Magazine of the Year competiton. Foord, Zeff, and their trusty five-member jury were particularly busy, having been deluged with a record number of digital submissions. Not only did they get through all of the entries, but they lived to tell about it. In this video by Joe Zeff Design, judges Mike Burgess (Beattie McGuinness Bungay), Neil Jamieson (Money), Steve Motzenbecker (NYmag.com), Josh Clark (author of Tapworthy: Designing Great iPhone Apps), and Marisa Gallagher (CNN Digital) reveal what they liked most in the entries they reviewed and what it all means for the publishing business.

Before planning your next trip, be sure to review the newly crowned winners of the Travel + Leisure Design Awards, which will be featured in the magazine’s March issue (on newsstands next Friday). The 2012 winners range from the Zaha Hadid-designed Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi to the ultimate in travel-friendly apparel (the 1964 by Scott James blazer and Issey Miyake‘s eminently packable origami folding clothing). Many of this year’s favorites will come as no surprise, including the city-friendly Fiat 500 (best car) and Leica’s drool-worthy D-Lux 5 Titanium Set (best camera). Preston Scott Cohen‘s smart and sculptural Herta and Paul Amir Building at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art got the nod for best museum (edging out the Brad Cloepfil-designed Clyfford Still Museum, alas), and two NYC destinations—Jane’s Carousel Pavilion in Brooklyn and the Freitag Store—won for best public space and best retail space, respectively. Meanwhile, 2012 T+L Design Champion H.E. Mubarak Hamad Al Muhairi, the driving force behind Abu Dhabi’s transformation and evolution as a cultural and design capital, joins past honorees such as ubercollector Micky Wolfson, André Balazs, and Amanda Burden. Tasked with choosing “the best new examples of design” in 20 categories was a jury moderated by Chee Pearlman that included architect Billie Tsien, fashion designer Derek Lam, High Line pioneer Robert Hammond, and artist Michele Oka Doner. Keep reading for the full list of winners.
Read more

“Wendy does not play the typical architecture game of ecological apology,” say the architects of their boundary-pushing pavilion, shown here in a rendering.

Who’s tripping down the streets of the city, smilin’ at everybody she sees? Who’s reachin’ out to neutralize an airborne pollutant? Everyone knows it’s Wendy! That’s right, fans of emerging architectural talent, the spiky and proactive creation of New York-based HWKN (Hollwich Kushner) has been declared the winner of this year’s MOMA PS1 Young Architects Program, besting finalists Ammar Eloueini of AEDS Ammar Eloueini Digit-all Studio (Paris and New Orleans), Martin Felsen and Sarah Dunn of UrbanLab (Chicago), and the solid Cantabrigian (Massachusetts) contingent: Mariana Ibañez and Simon Kim of I|K Studio and Cameron Wu.

Now in its thirteenth year, the Young Architects Program program challenges each year’s winners to develop creative designs for a temporary, outdoor installation at MoMA PS1 that provides shade, seating, and water. HWKN’s “Wendy,” which will debut in Long Island City in late June, is composed of nylon fabric treated with a nifty titania nanoparticle spray to neutralize airborne pollutants. This summer, Wendy will clean the air to an equivalent of taking 260 cars off the road. “Wendy crafts an environment—not just a space,” note the architects of their 5,000-square-foot creation. “Spikey arms reach out with micro-programs like blasts of cool air, music, water canons, and mists to create social zones throughout the courtyard.” And speaking of summery social zones, HWKN also was recently tapped to design a new entertainment complex to replace the Fire Island dance club, Pavilion, that burned down last year. The firm is collaborating with Diller Scofidio + Renfro on the project.

Frederic Goudy had one, so did Philip Johnson and Robert Rauschenberg. The Eameses had two. Pentagram is awash in them. George Lois wears his to bed. We’re talking about AIGA Medals, the graphic design world’s highest honor. Today AIGA announced its 2012 medalists: Ralph Caplan, Elaine Lustig Cohen, Armin Hofmann, and Robert Vogele. Caplan will be honored for his “discerning eye, deftness with words, and wonderful sense of humor toward defining design over half a century through writing, editing, and teaching,” while Lustig Cohen gets the nod for for her integration of “European avant garde and modernist influences into a distinctly American, mid-century manner of typographic communication.” AIGA recognizes Swiss graphic designer Hoffman, who Paul Rand once described as a shape-shifting “daredevil driver, mountain climber, teacher par excellence, and guru,” for his broad and deep influence in “teaching the power and elegance of simplicity and clarity through a timeless aesthetic, always informed by context” while the entrepreneurial Vogele is singled out for having “nurtured the creative potential of generations of Chicago designers, challenging all to think about design for the greater good.” They will be presented with their James Earle Fraser-designed medals on April 19 at Bright Lights: The AIGA Awards in New York. Tickets for the design star-studded benefit, co-chaired this year by the dynamic duo of Su Mathews and DJ Stout are on sale now.

Even the most demanding design purist is hard-pressed to avoid marring that freshly Venetian plastered or de Gournay wallpapered wall with a dull disk of white—or worse, beige!—ribbed plastic: the inevitable smoke detector. A little bird told us that’s all about to change. Meet the Chick-a-Dee, perched perpetually on a branch and ready to emit an 85-decibel-alarm at the first sign of smoke. Originally hatched by Dutch designer Louise van der Veld with an eye to residential interiors, the Chick-a-Dee has winged its way across Europe and is finally bound for North American nests, having been given the all-clear by Underwriters Laboratories. Brooklyn-based neo-utility, the sharp-eyed promoter of “products that are inherently useful but also bring a new and dynamic approach to design,” debuted the device stateside at last week’s New York International Gift Fair (where it was our top pick for the Bloggers’ Choice Awards) and will offer the product on its website this spring for around $75. The whimsical smoke detector, equipped with a battery that lasts 1.5 years, will also be available at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (MCA) Store. Stock up early, Portlandia fans, because this bold new opportunity to “Put a bird on it!” is sure to fly off shelves.

Jonathan Saunders, with models wearing looks from his spring 2012 collection, before his presentation to the BFC/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund judges in December.

Print- and color-loving Jonathan Saunders has sewn up the 2012 British Fashion Council/Vogue Designer Fashion Fund, the across-the-pond version of Anna Wintour and co.’s wildly successful initiative to boost young design talent. Now in its third year, the BFC/Vogue award provides the winner with £200,000 (at current exchange, just a few dollars over the stateside $300,000 purse) and access to industry mentors. Also shortlisted for the award were Marios Schwab, Mary Katrantzou, Meadham Kirchhoff (designed by Edward Meadham and Benjamin Kirchhoff), Nicholas Kirkwood, Peter Pilotto, Richard Nicoll, Roksanda Ilincic, and Zoe Jordan.

Saunders, who also made the 2011 shortlist, was selected as the winner based on the strength of his critically acclaimed catwalk and pre-collections over the past few seasons, his business plan, and a presentation to a judging committee chaired by Vogue UK editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman. So what’s next for Saunders’ burgeoning label? “We have four womenswear and two menswear collections a year—so we’ll be expanding these collections and launching accessories,” says the Glasgow-born designer, who counts Rei Kawakubo, Miuccia Prada, Le Corbusier, and Charlotte Perriand among his design heroes. Meanwhile, his fall 2012 collection hits the runway on Sunday, February 19, during London Fashion Week.

From left, spring looks from Eighteenth, James Long, Wes Gordon, and Mary Katrantzou.

Paris couture week wrapped up on Wednesday evening at Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, where Valentino’s Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pier Paolo Piccioli sent out a breathtaking collection inspired by Enlightenment philosophes (Rousseau lovely!). Now it’s full speed ahead to the New York shows, which kick off on February 8, followed by fashionfests in London, Milan, and then back to Paris. The latest crop of awards provides a handy cheat sheet of emerging—and in some cases, downright emerged—designers to watch this season:

Fashion Group International took over the uptown NYC outpost of Cipriani yesterday for its annual Rising Star awards luncheon. Designers Isabel and Ruben Toledo offered keynote remarks, while presenters including Ralph Rucci and Thom Browne announced the winners: Wes Gordon and Nonoo’s Misha Nonoo (who tied for the top honor in the women’s ready-to-wear category), Simon Spurr (menswear), Blythe Harris of Stella & Dot (accessories), our Twitter pal Wendy Brandes (fine jewelry), Joe Manus of Shiner International (home/interior design), David and Kavi Moltz of D.S. & Durga (beauty/fragrance entrepreneur ), IFF’s Celine Barel (beauty/fragrance corporate), and Vasken Demirjian‘s Vasken Salon (retail). Check out the full list of finalists here.

Earlier this month, winemaker Ecco Domani announced the seven winners of the 2012 Ecco Domani Fashion Foundation awards (read: $25,000 grants), and the list is full of superfresh faces. The womenswear honorees are twin sisters Daphne and Vera Correll‘s twice-as-nice label Correll Correll, breezy Eighteenth by Alexa Galler, Julie Haus and Jason Alkire‘s Haus Alkire, and Sunhee by Seoul-born designer (and Geoffrey Beene alum) Sunhee. Rounding out the list are Tim Coppens for menswear, Dezso by Sara Beltran for accessories, and Titania Inglis in the sustainable design category.

And across the pond, the British Fashion Council (BFC) recently announced the four designers that will receive Fashion Forward sponsorships (read: satchels of cash) to show their collections in London for the next two seasons: womenswear designers Henry Holland, Louise Gray, and Mary Katrantzou, and menswear maestro James Long, who is the first menswear designer to receive support through this scheme. The awards program, established six years ago to help emerging British designers show and develop their businesses in London, also includes access to business support provided by the BFC.

Design awards season is upon us and with it a flurry of freshly seated juries. Here are three ways ways to get your work appraised (and possibly lauded) by design minds such as Rodrigo Corral, Jan Chipchase, and Alice Twemlow:

Our friends at the Art Directors Club have announced the full Design jury for the global ADC 91st Annual Awards, and it’s a doozy. The dashing Arem Duplessis, design director of The New York Times Magazine, will preside over a talented dozen of designers that includes Irma Boom, Alan Dye of Apple, and Wired design director Leo Jung (intimidated yet?). Next Friday, January 27, is the last day to submit your entry for the interactive, design, motion, photography, and illustration categories.

Over at the Industrial Designers Society of America, the 2012 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) program is in full swing. A jury of 19 experts from design consultancies, corporations, and universities will have their say about products, ecodesign, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research, and concepts. Leading the charge is chairperson Rhys Newman, head of advanced projects at Nokia. Other jury members include Thomas Overthun (IDEO), Carrie Russell (Procter & Gamble), and Tad Toulis (TEAGUE). The regular application deadline is February 10, but procrastinators can squeeze out another week by paying a late fee.

Core77 is back with the second edition of its ambitious Design Awards program. In addition to progressive categories (social impact, speculative), professional and student entry fields, globally distributed juries, in-depth video testimonials, live jury announcements, and (whew!) a swell trophy created by Rich Brilliant Willing, the 2012 awards feature two new categories: food design and writing & commentary. Among this year’s crop of jury captains are frog design’s Michael DiTullo (soft goods), curator Zoë Ryan (furniture and lighting), and Min and Sulki Choi of Sulki and Min (visual communication). The final deadline for entries is April 10.

The One Club for Art and Copy is once again gearing up for The One Show, the prestigious annual awards program that recognizes brilliant feats of creativity with coveted golden pencils. So where do you come in? One Show Design, the 11-year-old competition that recognizes excellence in design, from corporate identity and packaging to industrial design and typography. This year, the competition debuts new categories including outdoor design (billboards, transit, street furniture), photography in design, and sustainability in design. Hope to pick up your gold, silver, or bronze pencil at the One Show Design gala come spring. You’ve got until January 31 to enter. Note the special reduced entry fees for freelance designers.