Australia’s best designers and industry supporters flocked to Sydney’s Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay last week for the annual 2017 Good Design Awards.

Held during the Good Design Festival in conjunction with Vivid Festival, the Good Design Awards is Australia’s peak industry event that recognises excellence in design and innovation with the highest honour one can receive - a prestigious Good Design Award.

The awards this year included the Young Australian Design Awards for designers under 30, recognising young Australian designers, engineers, innovators and entrepreneurs.

As a long term partner of the event, SAE Creative Media Institute Australia, was proud to come on board as Category Partner to sponsor the Digital Design category. SAE Southern General Manager, Lee Aitken was welcomed on stage to present the following Good Design Awards on the night:

Overall Winner - Digital Design
Magna Carta – The Story Of Our Freedom

Best in Category - Digital Design:
Best App Design 
VEC Voters Voice 
Designed By: Conduct
Commissioned By: Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)

Best Interface Design 
URSA Mini OS 
Designed By: UI/UX Team at Blackmagic Design 
Commissioned By: Blackmagic Design

Best Web Design and Development 
Magna Carta – The Story Of Our Freedom 
Designed By: Deloitte Consulting Pty Ltd 
Commissioned By: Australian Human Rights Commission

You can view all 2017 Good Design Award winners here.

The Awards celebrate the best new products and services on the Australian market, excellence in architectural design, digital and communication design and reward emerging areas of design including business model innovation, social innovation and design entrepreneurship.

The overall winner of the coveted Good Design of the Year Award was a tie between two finalists: Brisbane-based design consultancy Aurecon and Wellington-based digital design agency Chrometoaster.

Good Design Australia Chief Executive, Dr Brandon Gien, said that the awards had attracted innovative entries from all corners of the world, with an incredibly high standard of submissions this year.

“Trying to pick between these two projects proved to be too great a challenge for the judging panel. Both demonstrate excellence in design, innovation and creativity in two very different forms, and are a testament to the exceptional design expertise of products, services, designs and concepts that are available in the Australian market,” said Dr Gien. 

Photo: Jason Bender (Deloitte), Lee Aitken (SAE Southern General Manager) and Radovan Klusacek (SAE Sydney Campus Manager)

With more than 25 Best in Category Awards announced across seven main design disciplines, Australia’s annual Good Design Awards is recognised by the World Design Organization (WDO) as Australia’s peak design endorsement program and rewards excellence in design, innovation and creativity at a national and international level. With a mission to showcase superior examples of good design across a broad range of industries and design disciplines, the Good Design Awards has one of the most diverse ranges of design categories in the world.

All images courtesy of Good Design Australia. Photography: Anna Kucera.