For almost a decade, The Project has been an integral part of Indesign: The Event – and this year, it returned in full force to showcase the talents and abilities of our industry’s top creatives at Sydney Indesign 2017. By transforming our showrooms into interactive and immersive spaces, these collaborations provided snapshot moment of laughter, wonder and surprise.

Since its inception, The Project has always been guided by a set keyword or theme that forms the brief and dictates the concept of all installations. The 2017 keyword and theme was… CLICK – It’s the power of instant connections.

.

We love them all so much, but only one will take home the People’s Choice!

Click here to vote for your favourite! Voting closes 31st August 2017, and winners will be announced on the 1st September.

Here is what our industry’s best and brightest came up with… (in alphabetical order)

.

Abey with Spaces & Places

Ideas and products CLICKED together in a series of perspective-based interventions within Abey’s Waterloo showroom. Encouraged to explore our environment, the installation replicated the sense of an idea coming together through the nuances of spatial composition. Abstract stencilled elements throughout the showroom coalesce into carefully selected vantage points, thus forming geometric shapes that frame vistas. A suspended installation in the heart of the showroom concealed an image that is only visible from one angle. These works aimed to remind us of the ways in which we define and perceive space, and to inspire us all to create compositions of our own.

.

Abey, Cafe Culture + Insitu, Pure Interiors with Christina Waterson

Artist and designer Christina Waterson is known for her seductive surfaces and intricate installations. For #SID17 Christina produced some creative work to activate several spaces along Waterloo’s Dank Street with her Nearfar installation. Nearfar celebrated everyone who has travelled both near and far to experience #SID17. Through its structure and form, the installation captured the spirit of the intersections, connections and transformative experiences that CLICK into place during the two-day event and far beyond.

.

Alternative Surfaces with Latitude Group

Designed to explore the relationship between surface and texture, The Alternative Surfaces Pavilion at SID17 was a high-impact space with a big purpose. Inspired by Brutalist design forms, the cubic facade was juxtaposed by sweeping internal curved walls, demonstrating the architectural versatility and precision of Alternative Surfaces finishes. Visitors were invited to enter The Pavilion and immerse themselves in an Alternative experience.

.

B2 Studios with The Bold Collective

The Bold Collective joined our B2 Studios exhibitors to bring the space alive with colour, play and pattern – a veritable Design Carnivale! Combining loud art and design movements that almost slap you in the face with their bravado, this installation truly knew how to party! Here Pop Art merged with Memphis, with the graphic nature of both showcased to its full degree. Whether in two- or three-dimensional forms, the space invited visitors to walk through and experience the 1980s inspired circus costuming along the way. And … let’s just say there were a lot of balloons! 

.

CDK Stone, EcoSmart Fire, Savage Design, thinkdzine with Christina Waterson

Flowwave, an installation by artist and designer Christina Waterson, marks the entry to key #SID17 exhibitors at The Alexandria Precinct, The Alex.The installation explores flow patterns found in the world around us that continue to inspire art and design, architecture and cognitive patterns that CLICK with creative solutions. Flowwave’s flow pattern is specific to The Alex’s unique scale and structure. Through its distinctive layering, materiality and directional colour Flowwave has a focussing and uplifting presence to create a soft moment in the hustle and bustle of #SID17.”

.

Earp Bros with Tom Fereday

With grand nine-metre high ceilings and an industrial interior bathed in white, the Earp Bros Alexandria showroom was brought alive through the collaboration between Earp Bros and Tom Fereday: ‘Process’. Sixteen display archways acted as a backdrop for a visual narration of Fereday’s creative process, a retrospective showcase designed to challenge our perception of the inherent value of a product and reinforce the importance of supporting Australian creatives. Each process archway provided a unique photo opportunity and encouraged guests to CLICK away, sharing our support of Australian designers.

.

Interstudio with Zunica Design

Zunica Design and Interstudio collaborated a second time for SID17 with a focus on CLICK and connection. The Interstudio stand employed a modular shelving system that divided the space into a series of intimate moments. As with any design outcome, a series of interconnected parts clicked together to create a larger story and a singular completed statement. The levels of the shelving system were populated with individual items to represented the ways occupiers of space then transform the base to create their own personalised environments.

.

LightCo with Acme&Co

Refreshment in hand, you entered LightCo’s Tunnel of Light, and … CLICK…the magic happens! Instantly. Sequences of light – blinding, subtle, muted and mellow beckon, to create a sensation of curiosity and intrigue. LightCo has collaborated with Acme&Co to create a LightingFX-phenomena. How lighting’s mood-making capacity can impact us all emotionally was celebrated by this installation – whether romantic, sleepy, energetic and alive! And at dusk, when the exterior CUBE CLICKed in, you experienced chasing and fading lighting sequences that genuinely thrilled all the senses.

.

Mafi + Kebony by WOODOS with Billy Blue College

CLICK-ing the release button on your skis after a big day in the Austrian Alps, you were welcomed out of the snow and into the Mafi Ski and Health Chalet. Designed by Billy Blue Design School, the team invited you to relax, unwind, and experience the innovative and beautiful range of Mafi timbers. Drawing inspiration from Mafi’s  connection to Austria, the Chalet offered mulled wine and Austrian fare, as well as having massage therapists on hand to ease sore muscles after your time on the slopes. Mafi floorboards are manufactured exclusively in Austria and are best known for their all-natural health benefits and superior quality. Norwegian brand, Kebony sustainable decking and cladding was also a key design feature as visitors enjoyed the outdoor entertaining area of the Mafi Ski and Health Chalet. Bend ze knees, watch ze trees.

.

Made by Pen with Meanwhile in Melbourne

Meanwhile in Melbourne collaborated with Made By Pen to touch on the element of connectivity between each brand and the industry. Both companies’ guiding principals are to bring people and products together. Through the Meanwhile in Melbourne Instagram, and recently launched website, we saw products and the design journey immortalised, editorialised and amplified to NEO consumers and local specifiers alike. In the same manner, Made By Pen enable Australia’s leading industrial designers to realise and actualise their most innovative and exciting new products. Together they offered the attendees of Sydney Indesign an opportunity to interact with their light installation. This embodied the nature of how individuals can click and connect with Australia’s design industry.

.

.MR Chair with Adele Bates

Adele Bates and Schiavello came together to present the MR Chair. A quintessential chair where classic meets the modern world. Mario Ruiz’ brief was set in its ability to offer choice and bridge the gap between the office and home. Dining spaces, home offices, training settings, outdoor spaces – the MR Chair was crafted with flexibility and was designed in response to the revolutionary changes occurring worldwide in workplace. Connecting and clicking with friends, employees and family is becoming more important as working spaces are closer to home atmospheres and company values and identity are ranking ahead of salary.

.

SeehoSu with Geyer

Everything starts with an encounter … a CLICK, if you will. Using this ‘encounter’ as their control, SeehoSu, in collaboration with Geyer, created an installation that serves as the crux of  many, many questions. Will the multiplicity of these encounters be subtly blended? Obtusely juxtaposed? Or both? Exploring the power of encounters as the fuse to forming instant connections, this installation questioned whether the way things CLICK into place may be mutual or biased.

.

Signature Floorconcepts with GroupGSA

Signature Floorconcepts partnered with GroupGSA to create a unique experience where interaction and connection were enhanced through the five senses. The installation explored CLICK through how we engage in a shared activity. A multi-sensory “kaleidoscope of colour” awaited visitors as you elevated your senses and explored inspiration through the wonder of colour in our world. GroupGSA combined Signature Floor’s different collections to create a beautiful, textured element within the space,  accompanied with stimulating vision and sound to encourage an interpretation on kinetic movement. Attendees were mesmerised as they CLICK into their experience and entered a whole other dimension with a silent disco.

.

Stormtech with Cox Architecture

This collaboration between Stormtech and Cox Architecture created a multi- sensory, activity-based experience assembled through several interactive elements. Each element played on light, sound and a combination of mechanical and fluid movement.  Within our contemporary high-tech environments, we are constantly surrounded by, and engaging with, systems of instant reaction and response. Generated by minute CLICKS, technology has moved away from allowing us to see these complex networks and systems of chain reactions. Rather they become internalised, invisible responses with a particular instant effect. Challenging the conventional use and function of drainage system, this installation constantly abstracted, re-formed and ultimately activated the interactions of individuals through infinite chain reactions of cause and effect.

.

ZIP Water with SJB

After acquiring Vestal water and coming out with a new range of hydration solutions for HORECA, Zip had an exciting showcase, which was brought to life by the SJB design team. The primary concept looked at the abstraction of drinking water, by creating a series of enclosing spaces without static elements. The space was fluid, obscuring interior spaces but not restricting movement. Zip Water products throughout were featured on plinths, creating a sense of dominance and artefact. A bar space invited visitors to “CLICK” together, socialise and be engaged.

.