Design awards: what they can do for you
Simon Hodgson chats with Brandon Gien, one of Australia’s leading authority on design awards
With the recent launch of the KBDi Awards Program for 2011, Design 20eleven, I thought it timely to look closely at awards and what it can truly do for you and your business. So, to get a chance to interview one of this country’s leading authorities on design awards was indeed a privilege.
Brandon Gien boasts an impressive list of credentials. The former General Manager of Design Strategy and Head of Corporate Services at Standards Australia, Brandon is currently Managing Director of Good Design Australia and Chair of the Australian International Design Awards. He is actively involved in the design community both here and overseas and holds membership to a number of organisations, including the Design Institute of Australia; Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA); International Design Alliance and the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), of which he is the Treasurer and an Executive Board Member.
Over the past decade, Brandon has played a significant role in transforming the Australian International Design Awards program into the country’s peak design assessment and promotion body. He has also been instrumental in developing the ICSID’s World Design Impact Prize, a prestigious design award launched earlier this year to honour Industrial Design driven projects that make a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and environmental quality of life.
I started by asking Brandon what he sees as the major benefits of entering and winning awards for designers and the companies they work for.
“Winning an Australian International Design Award gives designers a definitive edge when competing for new business and a significant profile in the industry,” Brandon explains, drawing on his involvement with this awards program. “Apart from the peer recognition they receive, designers are continually competing for domestic and international business and having a Design Award tells prospective clients that their work is internationally recognised and respected.”
According to Brandon, the program provides exclusive networking opportunities and exposure to a wide range of Australian and international designers, business leaders, product manufacturers and distributors, government officials and media.
The program also serves as a unique promotional launch pad for new products and services, providing strong differentiation and market positioning for winners as a design and innovation leaders through the internationally recognised Good Design™ and Design Award™ trademarks. Endorsement by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) further boosts the profile of award winners, leading to sales enquiries and referrals through online entry profiles listed on the highly ranked website www.designawards.com.au.
Two of the most common questions designers ask when entering awards are: “What are the most important aspects of entering?” and “How much effort should an individual and/or business spend promoting the winning of the award?” What are Brandon’s thoughts?
“Form, function, quality, safety and sustainability,” he says. “These are inseparable aspects of any well-designed product and products meeting these criteria are granted a Good Design™ ‘Tick’.”
“Above this, it is innovation: Is the design new and original? Does it break new ground? In your Awards, does it rate well against the judging criteria? Is it a world first? These aspects relate to great design and that’s what we are looking for in granting a Design Award™.”
“And on effort post-winning, I say that our team throws an enormous effort into the promotion of the winners from a media perspective as I have seen KBDi does,” Brandon says. “However, this does not stop the individual company promoting their award-winning product. We have seen major television campaigns created around a winning product, right through to companies using the logo on the side of their delivery vans. The options are very broad and flexible to give as much promotional opportunities to the winners.”
“Going out there and advertising a product/service as the best on the market is one thing, having an independent panel of design experts giving it a credible endorsement is completely different. Consumers pay attention to credible third-party product endorsements. There is so much choice available to consumers now and businesses are continually trying to stand out from the crowd. Having this sort of recognition is very valuable to a business in today’s crowded market place.”
I finished by asking Brandon what evidence his organisation has to back up the belief that being an award-winning designer has a positive impact on potential customers and his tips for designers who are contemplating entering the KBDi Awards in 2011.
“We have anecdotal evidence that suggests a Design Award™ translates into a 5 per cent increase in sales,” Brandon says. “So, I can also guess that consumers take notice.”
He adds, “We did some market research 12 months ago and were pleasantly surprised that 75 per cent of consumers rated design as the second most important factor in their purchase decision. I think this tells us a great deal that Australian consumers are becoming much more design savvy – this is a good thing! And on the KBDi Awards, it is a great opportunity for kitchen and bathroom designers to showcase their work, and as I said above, the benefits of becoming an “award-winning designer” are vast and will unquestionably assist your career.”
From a KBDi perspective, we are extremely grateful to Brandon Gien for his time and some excellent advice on awards. Your opportunity to benefit yourself and your business by entering the awards is now open — visit www.kbdi.org.au and follow the link to Design 20eleven. Entries close 29th May 2011 — so be quick!
If you there’s a subject that you would like an opinion on, or just some general advice – email me at s.hodgson@kbdi.org.au
Simon Hodgson is a Director of the Kitchen and Bathroom Designers Institute and runs Direct Representation, a consultancy business to the kitchen and bathroom industry.
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