They were amongst 15 finalists whose designs were selected to compete for awards in the fields of lighting, furniture, product design, glass, ceramics, jewellery, fashion and textiles.

Steve Almond, a Master’s student in Design Innovation, won the $1000 L'affare Innovation in Sustainability Award and a Highly Commended Certificate for his ‘Circular Economy Sofa System.’

Steve’s sofa system is a modular design created from materials enabling the sofa to be easily repaired and later recycled.

Samuel Bryan, a third year Bachelor of Design Innovation student won the ECC Lighting Award for Yoko, a suspended wooden lamp design.

The lamp is hand turned from London Plane tree and was inspired by watching his grandfather create wooden bowls as a child.

Matthew Ford, a third year Bachelor of Design Innovation student majoring in Interaction Design also received a Highly Commended Certificate in the lighting category for an interactive light fixture entitled ‘Lux Harp.’

Matthew’s design is a wall mounted, distance operated light fixture creating an interactive experience for the user.

The ECC NZ Student Craft and Design Awards aim to encourage student innovation and creativity through providing opportunities for students to enter into creative industries with a coveted award to their name.