Finalists Revealed

Together with Vogue Living Australia, Alberto Alessi and Philippe Starck, we are thrilled to reveal the four finalists of the Alessi Design Awards.

The Alessi Design awards this year have selected 4 finalists in total – 2 Established designers and 2 Emerging designers. With the theme ‘objects-on-the-go’ in mind, four designers – Tom Fereday, Ikje Cheon, Kennjie and Ketsa Jerome – have had their concepts short-listed. Over the months following the finalist’s announcement the creatives have been mentored and to produce a final prototype for assessment in the final judging process.

There will be a winner announced in each category, with the successful applicants flown to Milan to present their prototypes to the Alessi family in the hopes of their design being put into production under the iconic Alessi brand. Before the winner is announced in an exclusive event in Sydney this March, meet our finalists below.

ESTABLISHED DESIGNERS

SUONO SPEAKER

“MUSIC IS MAGIC, BLUETOOTH IS MAGIC. NOW THE LOUD SPEAKER IS MAGIC.”

PHILIPPE STARCK

Sydney-based industrial designer Tom Fereday has made it as a finalist in the Alessi Design Awards with his Suono bluetooth speaker design. The speaker is elegantly designed to sit atop a desk, be mounted to a wall or simply carried as a portable hand-held speaker. “I thought it would be a really interesting challenge to look at how a portable wireless speaker could be re-imagined for a brand like Alessi.” – Tom Fereday

“Its an essential project that combines technology, function and material processing” – Alberto Alessi.

LIPS WATER BOTTLE

‘AN INTELLIGENT SOLUTION ABLE TO BRING OUT THE PECULIARITIES OF STAINLESS STEEL’

ALBERTO ALESSI

South Korean-born and Melbourne-based architect Ikje, has designed the Lips water bottle for Alessi, cleverly utilising the natural spring back action of stainless steel sheeting to create a water bottle that can open with a simple squeeze. “lips began with the aim to use the simplest of gestures to operate a water bottle”.

EMERGING DESIGNERS

ROTOLO SHOPPING BAG

‘A SIMPLE BUT WELL-CONCEIVED IDEA FOR A SMALL BUT VERY USEFUL OBJECT’

ALBERTO ALESSI

Kennyjie, Indonesian-born industrial designer who recently graduated from Melbourne’s Swinburne University of Technology, is making a positive impact on the environment with his shopping bag design. The super lightweight and durable bag unwinds from a pocket-sized tablet. “No more excuses for using pollutant plastic bags” adds Philippe Starck.

JAANA WATER BOTTLE

‘ANYTHING THAT ENCOURAGES US TO DRINK TAP WATER IS GOOD, EVEN A SCULPTURE’

PHILIPPE STARCK

Jerome, an architecture Masters graduate of Melbourne’s RMIT University originates from a small southern Indian town, Kodaikanal. She says she wanted to create an object that served an essential everyday purpose but didn’t look like a regular mundane item. “More the 60 million plastic water bottles end up in landfill every day” says Jerome, who wanted to create a bottle that was “durable, reusable and visually appealing” to satisfy both her sporty and creative sides.