Cutting-Edge Design in Australia
A cinema-quality camera that makes film-making more affordable for everyday users has been named winner of the 2013 Australian international Design Award of the Year.
Victorian-based creative video technology manufacturer Blackmagic Design won the top award for its Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Describing it as “a simple-to-use, smartly designed compact form factor at a fraction of the cost of existing professional video cameras”, the judges said its easy to understand interface “removes many of the obstacles holding back less techno-savvy filmmakers”. The camera is priced at around $3,000 (€2,140).
According to Brandon Gien, managing director of Good Design Australia and chair of the Australian International Design Awards, 66 Australian and international products were awarded a coveted Design Award in recognition of design excellence. “We… noticed a trend towards high quality, highly technical products – usually with low production volumes – coming from Australian designers. This is a positive indication that local design firms and manufacturers consider design to be an important value-add in a product’s development cycle.”
The 2013 awards attracted more than 250 entries ranging from cars to cameras, barbecues to baby strollers, kitchen tongs to computer tablets, personal accessories to portable radios, manufacturing equipment to homeware, and street furniture to scientific diagnostic equipment.
Six panels of Australian and international design experts assessed each entry on form, function, quality, safety, sustainability, commerciality and innovation.
