As part of the Indesign team, we come across amazing design every day. Recently, Hyundai asked us to take them on a trip to a few of our favourite design hot spots around Sydney to share what inspires us.

First stop was Courtesy of the Artist (COTA) in the Strand Arcade – which we love not only for the amazing jewellery pieces on show but for the décor of the store itself, with its colour-shifting Cinnamon Lee light centrepiece and rotating display boxes. Every time we visit we are amazed at just how much incredible design can fit into such a tiny space.

Next we drove to Surry Hills’ Hill Street district to visit Workshopped.

Workshopped are great champions of emerging Australian design, and their retail store – a recent addition to the Hill Street design hub – is where you can find great pieces from designers like Chris Hardy, Tim Fleming, Ben McCarthy and Samantha Robinson – whose ’Illuminator Vase’ was a real favourite.

Object Gallery was our next stop, where we spent some time perusing the gallery shop – also home to some amazing pieces from Aussie designers.

We loved Simone LeAmon’s ’Bowling Arm’ bracelets, which are actually a by-product of the manufacturing of cricket balls! They come in the three test match cricket ball colours – white, yellow and red.

The ’Digit’ necklaces by Mainichi also caught our attention. Mainichi inverts the concept of precious jewellery, using recycled leather, felt, wood, plastic and other everyday materials to create limited edition pieces that are handmade in Melbourne.

We also managed to sneak a peak at the Now & When: Australian Urbanism exhibition (on until 25 September) upstairs at Object Gallery. The gallery floor was transformed into a series of spaces, including a cinema room, clad in recycled InterfaceFLOR carpet tiles. We donned our 3D glasses and checked out the film that was first shown at the Australian Pavilion during the 2010 Venice Architecture Biennale.

After Object there was time for one last stop, so we drove down to O’Riordan Street in Alexandria to visit Space Furniture. We could have spent hours in this multi-level store and showroom – there’s just so much to look at. We browsed the design books, checked out the new season Melissa shoes, and put our feet up in the B&B Italia ’Up5’ chair.

Please note: Hyundai Australia provided the use of a new Hyundai Accent for the day. An agency representative was also on hand to capture images and facilitate & fund the creation of the experience.