Well, March is done and dusted. Just last week we brought together a group of leading industry suppliers at Carriageworks for a special preview and run-down on what to expect at FRONT in August. It was a stellar night and best of all we got to share some of the ideas and innovations we’re working on for this new event. If it’s not already marked on your calendar, do it now! Thursday 9 – Friday 10 August. And if you want to know more, get in touch.

Speaking of events, we’re really pleased to welcome Kobe Johns to the Indesign team as our Events Director. Kobe has been in the industry for well over a decade and in that time has been involved in the foundations of some great events in both Europe and Australia. Drop her a line at kobe@indesign.com.au if you’ve got any questions… or to just say hi. 

I’ve been honoured to be involved in three award juries throughout March. The first was with Herman Miller, assessing the most liveable office, which looked at both traditional and collaborative design approaches with submissions throughout Asia Pac. I spent a couple of days in Japan judging, the winners will be announced soon (but it’s still under embargo). AND, while I was in Japan it was incredible to see our Habitus online platform featured in all Apple iPad promos! Completely humbled. I had to do a double-take at the screen while waiting for my phone to be fixed.

Back in Australia meanwhile I joined a huge cross-disciplinary jury in Sydney for the 60^th Good Design Awards Australia with Brandon and his team. A huge celebration is set for May at the Opera House with Jan Utzon (who is also our own INDE.Awards judge) being the special headline guest. It’s quite poetic for him to join the stage designed by his father. It was great to see so many Aussie companies had submitted outstanding designs among the international work. Speaking of other recent Australian design, Stylecraft and Tappetti have got together to launch a rug collection, including past Indesign Luminary Helen Kontouris as well as Tom Skeehan, Alexander Lotersztain, Ross Gardam and Keith Melbourne (all past Launch Padders). Hopefully, we’ll see that roll out across Asia Pac soon. Also, something that showcased cross-disciplinary design in the region was Design Shanghai, more here.

Our own INDE.Awards, which honours work from Asia Pac on a global stage, are just getting warmed up. The Gala nights are all set for Friday 22 June – Singapore will play host to the big event, with a live stream happening in Sydney. We can’t wait to bring the industry together, to celebrate the work and re-energise the community, pushing us forward in a positive way. Big thanks to our local and international jury who are just finalising the judging process. 

On the local front, I specifically want to highlight three women who are bringing great design to the fore. Fiona at Spence & Lyda, who hosted a successful launch with Jon Goulder for Innate. The evening pulled-in a great crowd. Meanwhile, Joyce and Sara behind SeehoSu launched Mobler with a stand out event. The evening included an intimate Q&A talk about Danish design sensibilities, hosted by David Harrison. At both events, it was great to see industry heavyweights showing their support.

And in April, the great vacuum known as Milan Design Week is about to start-up again. We’ve got a team hitting the streets bringing the most important updates from the fair. As always, reach out if you’re going to be around. Otherwise, we’ll be hosting events in Sydney and Singapore where you can get our cut-to-the-chase, edited version of Milan.

All-in-all a great first quarter for 2018. Plenty more stuff coming up, none of which I can talk about, but stay tuned for more.