Meet the VIVID 2026 finalists.
The Authentic Design Alliance, celebrating our 10th year as an award partner, is proud to support the VIVID Emerging Designer Awards exhibition from 15 to 17 July.
Judged by a panel of prominent and respected industry figures, finalists will exhibit their work, as part of Decor+Design, alongside the co-located Green Design Show.
Curated by Latitude Group’s Daniel Dalla Riva, the VIVID Emerging Designer Awards is an important destination for local and international design professionals and enthusiasts.
Latitude has curated the VIVID Emerging Designer Awards for eight years and is proud to have helped advance the careers of some of Australia’s most progressive furniture, object, and lighting designers.
VIVID Emerging Designer Awards has already assisted over 1,300 designers with more than 1,500 products to kick-start their careers.
Categories across Furniture, Lighting, Object, and Concept Design also include the Authentic Design Alliance Award of Merit, the Dulux Award for Colour, the 2026 Judges’ Choice Award, and the 2026 Student Design Award.
VIVID champions original, considered design from the next generation of Australian creatives. Across six award categories, these finalists show what authentic design looks like: original thinking, honest materials, and craft built to last.
Register to attend Decor + Design.
Follow @vividdesigncomp on Instagram for the full finalist line-up and award announcements.
Lighting
Daniel Liaropoulos: Leaf Pendant
Design inspired by the leaves of a gum tree. Multiple veneers press into a mould, and an LED globe illuminates the form, casting light in three “V” patterns across the surrounding space. @Danmade_lighting
Juyeon Kim: Structural Glow
Inspired by Brutalist architecture and Cubist spatial division, this piece explores the interplay between light and geometric mass. Repetitive, industrial-inspired patterns create a rhythmic surface, while a deliberate cut-out section turns the solid form into a functional light sculpture, casting soft, architectural shadows. @juyeon_ceramics
Joe Fuchsen: X Sconce
Joe’s signature X-form glass design houses two light sources within its structure, casting striking patterns through the X openings at the top and bottom. The translucent white glass softly diffuses the light, creating a warm, atmospheric glow. @glassrhythm
Rosie Licence: Sap Lamp
This oak-and-resin lamp marries sculpture, function, and material resourcefulness. The triangular form was created from just three salvaged boards, hand-shaped to appear as though carved from a single solid piece. The resin components were cast using mouldings of found pebbles and dyed with tea. @rosielicence
Anya Boudville-Baltinas: Alu Lamp
Alu Lamp is an exercise in form and material clarity. Composed of a single geometric volume, its surface displaces inward to reveal luminance. The design embraces structure, proportion, and materiality. Alu Lamp is available in a small edition of 20, fabricated locally. @anya____mila
Isabelle Bayly: Eden Column
Eden Column is an elongated, sculptural wall light designed to cast a soft, atmospheric glow. Its fluted form balances function and aesthetics, creating warmth without visual heaviness. Locally 3D printed in Brisbane using sustainable materials, it reflects a considered approach to lighting and contemporary Australian design. @_francastudio_
Suzy Syme and Andrew Costa: FLORASPHERE – Rising Sun
A sculptural lamp combining undulating coral-inspired growth with a radiant sunrise palette. Unlit, its colours define a dappled organic sculpture; illuminated, they bleed into the warm radiance of first light on water. Each piece is uniquely grown. @thetidepooldesigns
James Morando: Linea
Linea explores the contrast of complex finishing techniques applied to simple, found objects. It uses economical construction materials to create an elegant wall sconce, easily scalable to fit any space. Warm light accentuates the surface finish, achieved by acid etching aluminium extrusion. @jamesmorando
Ember Satyn and Lili Harrison: The Glossy Duo
The Glossy Duo highlights the contrast between glass and ceramics, repeating the same form in both materials. One lamp has a ceramic shade and glass base, the other a glass shade and ceramic base. Placed together, they reveal the distinct material qualities and how each interacts with light. @embersatyn
Fraser Greenfield: Sailor Lamp
Crafted from resin infused with magnetite, this sculptural lamp balances industrial materiality with quiet warmth. The subtly textured face diffuses light into a soft, ambient glow, while its monolithic form anchors any space. Designed for bedside, desk, or shelf. @keroscee
Femme Brutale: Smoke Light Totem
Smoke Light Totem is part of Sensual Living Systems. Through a language of metaphor, volume, and material, Femme Brutale creates objects that balance utility with beauty, playfulness with precision, and severity with warmth. This piece is part seat, part shelf, part light: a functional sculpture that defies categorisation. @femmebrutale.co
Furniture
Lukas Fong: Framed by the Square, Transformed by the Circle
The collection began as an honours project questioning why some objects are kept while others are discarded. Drawing on Cantonese cultural memory and traditional craftsmanship, it transforms into a chair, stool, or table, encouraging slower interaction and positioning furniture as a meaningful, evolving part of everyday life.@el_ef.a
Rosie Licence
This aluminium and travertine coffee table combines the portability of flat-pack furniture with the luxury of stone and brushed metal. Its dimensions follow standardised stone tile sizes, improving affordability. As the business scales, aluminium frames can be shipped internationally while customers source tiles locally, reducing freight costs and environmental impact. @rosielicence
Marcus Chong: YieldYield
YieldYield explores the relationship between a rock’s weight and a table’s function. The rock’s constant pressure forces the table to yield physically and conceptually, reshaping interaction by limiting access to a single point. This disruption calls into question the table’s purpose: has its function been lost or transformed? @marcus_chong_
Marcus Chong: Daisy Stool
Daisy Stool explores the beauty found in imperfection. Rather than concealing flaws, this work embraces them, allowing the wood’s natural variations, cracks, and textures to become defining features. Highlighting these imperfections reveals the material’s inherent character and honesty. @marcus_chong_
Nicole Teoh: Wave Table
Inspired by rattan, the Wave Table investigates how high-performance composites can shape contemporary furniture. Strips of carbon fibre overlap to form a sturdy, moulded triaxial weave. Though carbon fibre suits industrial sectors, perforations in the weave create a sense of lightness in visual mass, resolving this in non-industrial settings. @nicoleteoh.design
Tom Graham: Para Stool and Para Bench
An exploration of form, materiality, and tactile detail, the Para Stool and Para Bench are a complementary set crafted from Victorian Ash and hand-woven paracord. Their pared-back structure emphasises function, while the woven seat introduces texture. Hand-painted in a low-sheen water-based finish. @__tomgraham
Mali Gordon: Stacked Stools
Designed for the space-conscious modern home, the Stacked Stools join together to form a single entity or separate to function independently. A robust and space-effective answer to guest seating, which converts to a side table when the guests go home. @re.desig.n
Sam Short: Corded Bench
A bespoke Danish Cord woven bench seat crafted using traditional techniques and drawing on Scandinavian mid-century design. Sculpted primarily with hand tools, this bench is entirely unique and imperfect, designed with the belief that there is beauty in individuality and an assurance it cannot be identically replicated. @_studioshort
Tara Burgess: Imprint on Me
A sculptural outdoor side table designed to weather Australia’s current climate. It centres on the material exploration of natural hydraulic lime as a carbon-negative alternative to concrete. Reclaiming a material rooted in history continues a necessary conversation about past, present, and future sustainable practices. @_tara.jayne
Dylan Barfield: Marker Chair
Dylan designed the Marker Chair as an elegant piece that feels both strong and delicate, highlighting a love of curves and the seamless integration of legs, seat, and backrest. Made from sustainably sourced Tasmanian Blackwood, it uses standard lumber sizes to reduce waste financially and environmentally. @dylanbarfieldfurniture
Reece Patterson: Whistle Cabinet
A wall-mounted piece crafted from American Walnut, the Whistle Cabinet features a circular body achieved through coopering and kerfing. Inspired by a whistle shape, the design includes an extending wing-like shelf and a central push-to-open drawer. Originally conceived as a bedside piece, it stands confidently as a standalone form. @rhodrifurniture
Reece Patterson: Tall Button Stool
Handmade in Canberra, the Button Stool features a recessed seat cradled by frame legs with elegant curved joins. A triangular connection unites the legs, ensuring that every detail is both structural and aesthetic. Simple yet playful, this timber design delivers a confident stance and handmade craftsmanship. @rhodrifurniture
Bridget Saville: Restless Coffee Table
Restless Coffee Table balances sculptural form with functional design. Freely folded lengths of extruded ceramic form its base, capturing movement within a restrained form. A substantial smoked glass top anchors the piece, while its generous scale and low profile lend a grounded presence within contemporary interiors. @bridgetsaville
Shaheera Crawford: BalboaBalboa
A flat-pack rocking chair, constructed by connecting four bamboo ply slabs with brass fixings. Clean joinery and considered proportions create a visually refined silhouette. An upholstered seat and back pad add comfort, while the sustainable bamboo construction delivers quiet, enduring quality. @lood_official
Andrew Barber: TetherTether
TetherTether is a hand-bent steel chair and stool, designed and made in Melbourne. Inspired by early modernist principles, its open construction achieves structural integrity without visual or literal weight. Laced back supports and woven details add understated character, while a powder-coated finish ensures durability. @lood_official
Caleb Biffanti: Tall Coaster
Tall Coaster is a compact side table crafted from reclaimed Oregon balusters. Purposefully small to resist clutter, a single daily ritual informs its size: a morning coffee, an evening wine, or a novel. The simple form is carefully considered to elevate the natural grain. @calebbiffanti
Nina Lewis: Recession Coffee Table
The Recession Coffee Table draws on early Russian Constructivist design and the later Brutalist movement. Made from solid American Ash and joined using hand-chiselled recesses for strength, the design highlights the prominent ash grain, with an end-grain inlay adding contrast in tone and texture. m@ninafrances_
Carl Broesen: Loom Armchair
The Loom Armchair explores the potential of textile offcuts as a viable upholstery material. Drawing on rag-rug weaving traditions, textile offcuts are hand-tufted through a woven wire mesh supported by a stainless steel frame, creating a surface that is both visually rich and materially intentional.@carlbroesenstudio
Mark Ravishan Silva: Infinity Loop
This curved bench explores flowing organic form through bent laminated American White Ash. Designed to balance strength, comfort, and visual softness, the piece highlights continuous curves, refined joinery, and handcrafted construction, creating a functional statement seating piece with sculptural character. @mrworks.au
Lachlan Mackay and Veronica Paiva: Second Subject
Developed as an evolution of First Subject, Second Subject explores how scale, material, and instinct-led making rework familiar forms. Combining hardwood, steel, and varied timbers, the piece celebrates adaptability, experimentation, and objects shaped through process rather than fixed outcomes. @subjectmatters__
Bell Miller: Block39
Handcrafted from blackbutt, Block39 responds to the increased pace of our lived environment. The lattice surface is designed as a vessel to accommodate movement and play. The legs are accessories to the bench seat, to be manipulated to the desired form. @bell.process
Jacqueline Kaytar: Bark
Inspired by ironbark’s deeply furrowed surface, Kaytar translated natural texture into cast aluminium through hand sand-casting. A mirror-polished top meets raw, textural form, balancing utility and presence. Designed to evolve through patina, it reflects a continual transformation of material, process, and surface over time. @studiokaytar
Jordan Conlan: Ode
Indicative of place through referenced geometries, materials, and historical markers. Crafted from a single slab of storm-felled timber gathered by the banks of the Murray River / Dhungala, Ode moves beyond function to become a reflection of its origin, capturing the spirit and story of a small regional town. @jordan.conlan
Jordan Conlan: Diosca
A play on proportions, Diosca is a freestanding cabinet that resists perceived norms by intentionally distorting balance and form. The piece invites a sense of play and curiosity through tactile interaction, encouraging the viewer to engage in ways they might not expect. @jordan.conlan
Jorien Soeterik: Mesa Dog Bed
Mesa is a mid-century modern inspired dog bed, designed as an architectural object for the home. Guided by the clean lines and principles of Le Corbusier, Mesa evokes the leisurely spirit of Palm Springs, where form and rest come together in this object for modern animal living. @grovers.lane.home
Femme Brutale: Sella
Made by hand from solid salvaged Oregon, the Sella chair uses mechanical fixings and can flat-pack. It is hand-chiselled and embellished with hand-made nails that express the timber’s former life. No two chairs are the same, owing to the organic properties of maker and material. @femmebrutale.co
Femme Brutale: Sellula and Banca
Sellula and Banca work independently, or when placed with additional modules, the assemblages are endless. The foundation of Femme Brutale is a simple form, a cube with a single curved edge, which in isolation is severe and unyielding. Sensual Living Systems balance utility with beauty, and severity with warmth. @femmebrutale.co
Object
Jacqueline Kaytar: Rockpool Mirror
Hand sand-cast in aluminium, the Rockpool gathers five mirrored pools that capture and scatter light. Formed through an ancient casting process, each surface bears the direct imprint of its sand mould, with variation arising from hand fabrication. A low-intervention, locally grounded work. @studiokaytar
Noah Corban: Three Flow
Composed of three vessels (Rise, Pulse, and Drift), the container aligns with the body’s circadian rhythm. Varying magnet resistance and shifting aluminium reflections offer quiet sensory markers throughout the day, grounding the act of taking supplements in something closer to ritual. @Noahcorban
Lea Tarakdjian: Bubble Set
The Bubble Set is a clear glass composition exploring the starting point of glassblowing: the initial bubble formed from molten glass. Rather than concealing it, the work makes this moment visible as a defining design element, emphasising transparency, soft forms, and the direct link between process and object. @leatarakdjian
Tom Summers: Soft Plane Wall Hook Series
These wall hooks combine slip casting and slab building to create pieces that are both sculptural and functional. The different shapes complement each other and create a striking, playful arrangement in their setting, treating the wall as an active compositional surface rather than simply an installation. @__tomsummers
Winn Lee: Alishan Noren
This traditional curtain, a Noren, is hand-stitched in Japanese ink on canvas. It can be hung decoratively or to create private spaces within the home or work environment. Travellers to Japan or Taiwan would be familiar with these artistic, unobtrusive designs. @osborneandfawknerpublishinghq
Freddy Mata: Catatumbo Chess Set
A representation of The Three Thousand Lightnings War, a fictional battle inspired by the northern shores of Zulia State. Part of the body of work “Grainchromie”, it highlights natural end-grain patterns with colour.
Femme Brutale: Speculo
Featuring Femme Brutale’s signature motif: a cube with a single curved edge. For walls, ceilings, or as freestanding objects. Three finishes meet on the aluminium: polished, sandblasted, and bush-hammered. When installed in multiples, the mirrors tessellate for a range of configurations. @femmebrutale.co
Concept Design
Steel Issoufson: Second Skin
Second Skin challenges standardised sizing by proposing a modular wearable object that adapts to the individual. Through additive manufacturing, asymmetrical form, and a dual-layer system, it explores the relationship between body, material, and industrial production, embracing imperfection, identity, and transformation. @dot___lab
Chelsea Williamson: Stork Stools
Project Stork began with the desire to create furniture that explores new avenues of form, function, and materiality. Designed to stack and pack into a single unit, the collection of sculptural stools transitions effortlessly between seating and storage, offering an adaptable solution for space-conscious living. @xwicdesigns
Ember Satyn: Akin
Akin explores the human form, abstracting it through glass to create uncanny, mildly familiar forms. These textured, lifelike pieces are made by blowing glass into moulds taken from the artist’s elbows. This shift repositions the body from a personal subject to a sculptural form. @embersatyn
Alex Berecz: HAL
Inspired in part by the rogue AI entity in the film 2001: A Space Odyssey, HAL is a visual representation of the veil of opacity that shields modern-day artificial intelligence. This pervasive secrecy, masquerading as informed reason, can be seen through and illuminated. @a_b_create_
Fraser Greenfield: The Limbo Chair
The Limbo Chair distils seating to its most essential form: a single, flowing silhouette cut from 9mm laminated plywood. Precision adhesives and steam bending produce a seamless, ergonomic structure without visible joints or mechanical fixings. Like a limbo, it is light, durable, and from some angles nearly invisible. @keroscee
Julian Fazzari: The Modular Couch Project
This project reimagines furniture as a flexible, modular system. Four elements stack into a single lounge seat or separate into three cushioned seats and a low table. Carefully proportioned, the user’s weight stabilises the pieces, creating adaptable comfort that invites improvisation and the reshaping of compact living spaces. @jul_faz
Jed Kelly: Almost Bookshelf
Almost Bookshelf is a handcrafted solid-timber piece defined by its subtly angled shelves. The gentle angle allows large stone spheres to roll along a carved channel, transforming them into dynamic, sculptural bookends. @almost.robots
Colour
Suzy Syme and Andrew Costa: FLORASPHERE – Rising Sun Lamp
FLORASPHERE – Rising Sun is a sculptural lamp that combines undulating, coral-inspired growth with a radiant sunrise palette. Unlit, its colours define a dappled organic sculpture; illuminated, they bleed into the warm radiance of first light on water. Each piece is uniquely grown. @thetidepooldesigns
Tara Burgess: Imprint on Me
Inspired by the Victorian coast, Imprint on Me is a sculptural outdoor side table cast in a hybrid sand-formwork mould system. The custom limecrete mix celebrates the natural transparency of its alkaline properties and its alchemy with oxide pigments, evoking hazy nostalgia in sun-soaked, weathered, sea-life-inspired tones.@_tara.jayne
Tom Summers: Soft Plane Wall Hook Series
These wall hooks combine slip casting and slab building to create pieces that are both sculptural and functional. The different shapes complement each other and create a striking, playful arrangement, treating the wall as an active compositional surface rather than simply an installation. @__tomsummers
Carl Broesen: Loom Armchair
The Loom Armchair explores the potential of textile offcuts as a viable upholstery material. Drawing on rag-rug weaving traditions, textile offcuts are hand-tufted through a woven wire mesh supported by an electropolished stainless steel frame, creating a surface that is both visually rich and materially intentional. @carlbroesenstudio
Lachlan Mackay and Veronica Paiva: Second Subject
Developed as an evolution of First Subject, Second Subject explores how scale, material, and instinct-led making rework familiar forms. Combining hardwood, steel, and varied timbers, the piece celebrates adaptability, experimentation, and objects shaped through process rather than fixed outcomes. @subjectmatters__
Tom Graham: Para Stool and Para Bench
An exploration of form, materiality, and tactile detail, the Para Stool and Para Bench are a complementary set crafted from Victorian Ash and hand-woven paracord. Their pared-back structure emphasises function, while the woven seat introduces texture. Hand-painted in a low-sheen water-based finish. @__tomgraham
Fraser Greenfield: Copper Sailor Lamp
Made with PLA resin infused with copper and inspired by 19th-century naval lamps. The subtly textured face diffuses light into a soft, ambient glow, while its geometric form anchors any space. Over time, the copper develops a natural patina, adding character. Designed for bedside, desk, or shelf. @keroscee
Student Award
Rosie Licence: Flat-Pack Coffee Table
This aluminium and travertine coffee table combines the portability of flat-pack furniture with the luxury of stone and brushed metal. Its dimensions follow standardised stone tile sizes, improving affordability. As the business scales, aluminium frames can be shipped internationally, while customers source tiles locally. @rosielicence
Rosie Licence: Sap Lamp
This oak-and-resin lamp marries sculpture, function, and material resourcefulness. The triangular form was created from just three salvaged boards, hand-shaped to appear as though carved from a single solid piece. The resin components were cast using mouldings of found pebbles and dyed with tea. @rosielicence
Anya Boudville-Baltinas: Alu Lamp
Alu Lamp is an exercise in form and material clarity. Composed of a single geometric volume, its surface displaces inward to reveal luminance. The design embraces structure, proportion, and materiality. Alu Lamp is available in a small edition of 20, fabricated locally. @anya____mila
Noah Corban: Three Flow
Composed of three vessels (Rise, Pulse, and Drift), the container aligns with the body’s circadian rhythm. Varying magnet resistance and shifting aluminium reflections offer quiet sensory markers throughout the day, grounding the act of taking supplements in something closer to ritual. @Noahcorban
Mali Gordon: Stacked Stools
Designed for the space-conscious modern home, the Stacked Stools join together to form a single entity or separate to function independently. A robust and space-effective answer to guest seating, which converts to a side table when the guests go home. @re.desig.n
Sam Short: Corded Bench
A bespoke Danish Cord woven bench seat crafted using traditional techniques and drawing on Scandinavian mid-century design. Sculpted primarily with hand tools, this bench is entirely unique and imperfect, designed with the belief that there is beauty in individuality. @_studioshort
Nina Lewis: Recession Coffee Table
The Recession Coffee Table draws on early Russian Constructivist design and the later Brutalist movement. Made from solid American Ash and joined using hand-chiselled recesses for strength, the design highlights the prominent ash grain, with an end-grain inlay adding contrast. @ninafrances_
Marcus Chong: YieldYield
YieldYield explores the relationship between a rock’s weight and a table’s function. The rock’s constant pressure forces the table to yield physically and conceptually, reshaping interaction by limiting access to a single point. This disruption calls into question the table’s purpose. @marcus_chong_
Marcus Chong: Daisy Stool
Daisy Stool explores the beauty found in imperfection. Rather than concealing flaws, this work embraces them, allowing the wood’s natural variations, cracks, and textures to become defining features. Highlighting these imperfections enhances the piece. @marcus_chong_
See the finalists in person
The vivid 2026 finalists are on show at Decor + Design. The show runs 15 to 17 July 2026 at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Register to attend and see this work, and the co-located Green Design Show, for yourself.
