The illustrious panel of industry heavyweights is made up of Designer Rugs Chairman, Eli Tal, Designer Rugs Director, Yosi Tal, futurespace Design Director and past-EVOLVE Winner, Gavin Harris, Indesign Media Asia Pacific Chairman & CEO, Raj Nandan, Dinosaur Designs Creative Director Co-Founder, Louise Olsen and Industrial/Interior Designer Matt Sheargold

ELI + YOSI TAL // Designer Rugs

If you’re active in the Australian design industry, you’ve no-doubt heard of Eli and Yosi Tal from Designer Rugs.

For over 25 the Tal’s have complimented the aesthetics of residential homes and commercial spaces throughout the world with rugs of exceptional quality and unique designs.

By working in collaboration with leading Australian artists and designers, this innovative and design focused company led by Eli and Yosi, has earned an outstanding reputation for producing custom made rugs for private clients and commercial professionals alike.

GAVIN HARRIS // futurespace

Senior Associate and Design Director Gavin Harris joined futurespace in April 2009 after almost ten years of living in London and working in Europe and the UK. Gavin is an experienced and talented interior designer and is dedicated to pushing futurespace’s design output. He has a Bachelor of Applied Science in Built Environment from QUT and likes that futurespace provides opportunities for the team to develop creatively.

For fun Gavin likes designing furniture and has several impressive product collaborations with brands such as Woven Image, CULT, Satellite Design and many more. In 2010 he won Designer Rugs’ Evolve rug design competition with his Scribble rug and Corporate Culture’s (now CULT) Design Journey competition with his Takushi table.

He is one of futurespace’s most senior designers and recently led the design team to deliver projects for McCann CMG advertising, John Holland and Microsoft’s new activity based workplaces around Australia.

LORENZO LOGI // Indesign Media Asia Pacific

Lorenzo Logi is the Managing Editor of Indesign Magazine.

Having worked within the field for a number of years, Lorenzo spends every day curating and critiquing commercial, residential and hospitality architecture and design. Lorenzo is very much tapped in to the industry, having close professional relationships with key industry heavy hitters and emerging players alike.

His ability to predict and critically assess what the future of architecture and design is makes him a pivotal and valued member of the design editorial community across Australia and Asia Pacific.

LOUISE OLSEN // Dinosaur Designs

Dinosaur Designs has been one of Australia’s most iconic and celebrated design-based businesses since their inception in 1985. Creative Director Louise Olsen is a lover of nature, light, colour and beauty – and has always had a very creative life. She is very committed to the invention and discovery of materials and the way they respond and react with each other, breaking the rules, pushing the boundaries and changing the way people see and discover the visual world through design, and its importance in understanding the world around us.

The excitement of the first prototype, the colour, texture and surface, form and the never- ending possibilities is what keeps the Dinosaur Designs journey so exciting after more then 28 years. Louise herself, specialises in: Sculpture, Drawing, Painting and Art History.

MATT SHEARGOLD // Sheargold

Principal at HASSELL and Director of design studio Sheargold, Matthew Sheargold divides his time between interior, product and furniture design. He is an award winning designer who balances precariously between interior design, product and furniture design.  Having worked for some of the leading interior design firms around the world Matthew now runs SHEARGOLD, a multi-disciplinary design firm in Sydney, Australia.

The judging panel will consider submitted designs (received by no later than 20^th July) and rate each on: the overall concept and originality of design; Innovation: judges will assess if submitted designs bring a new concept to finished rugs; Commercial viability of the rug design; Demonstrated understanding of the handmade rug construction process

Designer Rugs reserve the right to support the Judges’ decisions as final.

Judging is conducted anonymously, in three phases:

1. Shortlist – 100 designs selected from entries (received by the closing date).
2. Judging of top 25 designs, with the eight (8) finalist designs selected for manufacturing.
3. Private judging on event night to select the overall winner.

 But if you feel like you’re more a person of the people, fear not! EVOLVE 2015 will also host a People’s Choice component to the program.

Prizes to the value of $1,000 RRP (Designer Rug voucher) will be awarded to both the designer of the design nominated as favorite by the People’s Choice online ballot and one lucky person who voted for that rug. Finally, Each of the Top 25 Finalists will receive a certificate of merit.

KEY DATES FOR THE DIARY //

Finalists selected 6^th August 2015

Event and winner announced November 2015 (Invitation only event, Sydney)

Contact Hayley Rasmussen at Designer Rugs for more information: evolve@designerrugs.com.au Ph: (61 2) 9550 9933