Denfair 2017 highlights

Denfair 2017 has officially begun. The eclectic showcase brings together designers from all industries, representing the zenith of creativity and innovation. Read on for a roundup of our favourite products and designers at Denfair this year.

Tait has invited Adam Goodrum to create their new outdoor collection, Trace. The culmination of 18 months of work, Trace is Tait’s fourth collaboration with Goodrum. Trace is an exploration of texture, colour and comfort that draws on the spirit of the Australian outdoor lifestyle.

Front | Centre sits at the Denfair entrance, extending an eye-catching hello to visitors. It features products by designers from Craft ACT, JamFactory, Artisan – Centre for Queensland Craft & Design, Designed Objects Tasmania and Workshopped in association with Australian Design Centre (ADC). Keep an eye out for Scott Van Tuil’s elegant and shapely O-Bench, made from celery top pine and Tasmanian Oak.

Peppered with crops of green plants, Archier’s exhibit is a little dose of nature. Ceramic hand-basins developed for Archier by ceramicist Lindsey Wherrett are individually handmade. The basins’ beautiful finishes exude honed skill. Above these hangs Jonathan Ben-Tovim’s striking Highline 3D brass pendant light.

Alex Earl’s Telegon wall lights are reminiscent of a topographical map. The sculptural pieces masterfully play with angles to create a timber tapestry of light and shadow.

Says Alex of his artistic focus: “I’m coming back more and more to my background in sculpture and it has been very liberating to approach design with a no-compromise philosophy again.”

Scott Lewis curator of Dangerous Designs on behalf of Wood Solutions, describes their vibrant display as “liquorice allsorts and popsicle sticks”. Dangerous Designs is presenting the wood products of nine designers.

“It’s nice to expose some of the lesser-known designers as well as some of the more established types,” Lewis says.

Nau invites you to bear witness to a new Australian design movement, inspired by extreme natural landscapes. Showing ranges from four designers including Adam Goodrum, nau’s ambient and sleek space is the physical articulation of their contemporary design values.

ISM Objects’ lights are both inventive and attractive. Their range of rice paper orbs adorn the display like a string of pearls. Available in varying sizes, these lights inflate when illuminated. They are also debuting svelte pendant lights with an acoustic fabric inner core, ideal for noisy commercial environments. In a sweet touch, ISM have even designed custom symbols for each light, displayed beside the product.

Satelight’s lighting range is displayed in a tall cascade of varying materials and finishes evoking the fall of a necklace. Their cymbal range is hand-finished and its golden discs radiate a hypnotically warm glow.

Behind towering blue sheer curtains is a collaborative project in the form of a series of vignettes by LOCAL DESIGN, Kvadrat textiles and Maharam. This ingenious exploration of textiles grabs the eye of any passerby.

The American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) has collaborated with Adam Goodrum and nau to present “The Bilgola Limited Edition” range in luscious American cherry and cool tulip wood. Goodrum’s geometric screens are especially fantastic.

Volker Haug has outdone himself this year. His stand is a full sensory experience, right down to the plush carpet on the floor. As for Haug’s lights: those are simply works of art.

Denfair
Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre
8 – 10 June denfair.com.au