Saturday Indesign (SID), now in its 20^th year, really encapsulates that spirit of connectivity that makes the design community so unique and, well, fun. It’s an event that brings people together, invites them into the ‘homes’ of Australia’s leading purveyors of design, to experience showrooms as activated brand environments. Through interactive installations, dynamic design discussions, product launches and sublime hospitality, 34 exhibitors across 26 locations brought Saturday Indesign to vibrant life, this year in Melbourne.

Defined by three major design precincts of the city CBD, Richmond and Collingwood, the 2023 edition of Saturday Indesign enticed 2000 architects, designers and design lovers out from behind the desk to grab a classic ‘SID’ tote (this year created with bag partners Living Edge), and catch jaunty SID-branded buses (made possible thanks to transport partner Neolith), to sleuth out the best products and meet with friends and future contacts in some of Melbourne’s finest design showrooms.

Here we’ll take you on a whirlwind tour through each precinct, calling out the highlights along the way.

Welcome to Richmond

This year Richmond was flagged as Saturday Indesign’s largest Melbourne precinct, offering event-goers a dense and appealing group of exhibitors to visit – all within an easy walk.

Filling visitors with excitement was the official launch of Australia’s Molteni & C flagship store, unveiling creative director Vincent Van Duysen’s ‘Living Concept – A Warm and Fluid Home’.

Across the road, Jardan revealed its latest collection, seamlessly integrating this into its pop-up Café Jardan. Close by was Mobilia, which toured its visitors through its flagship store, and rewarded one lucky person with a trip to the Milan Furniture Fair – what an excellent door prize!

Reece and Neolith invited guests into Reece’s Richmond headquarters, known as The Works, staged The Project with Fraser and Partners, inviting guests to step into a mesmerising VR adventure where they could be whisked away to a breathtaking utopian bathroom scape.

Didier was a major product highlight, presenting two new furniture collections, entitled TanGuor and Etiquette, as well as an expanded selection of pieces for its established Gunzel Range. At Design Precinct could take part in special workshops and fuel themselves on tasty morsels from Supercheese and Olinda Specialist Cellars Gin and Wine Tasting.

Attracting a block-buster crowd for its Darren Palmer talk was Camerich, while Cosh Living and Cantilever hosted an ‘Australian Designed and Made’ discussion with collaborators Travis Dean and Katie Forbs (Cantilever Interiors) and Justin Hutchinson (Kett) on the panel.

Living Edge never disappoints and this year was no exception, with its carpark transformed into a live garden party. People grouped around the Extremis-designed Panigiri table and live musicians entertaining people with Greek tunes. Tucked next door was Thinking Works which rewarded one lucky visitor with a trip to Clerkenwell Design Week in London. And Winnings programmed a day of delicious cooking demonstrations, masterclasses and a barbecue feast.

Can’t get enough of Collingwood

Teaming up with Santa & Cole, AJAR staged The Project with a series of land and air scapes sculpted by the warm light of Santa & Cole’s Tekiò pendant lamp. Also filling their showroom with creative inspiration was AXOR with Plus Architecture who staged an ‘fluid’ water-projecting experience that immersed visitors in a multi-sensory wonderland.

ecf HFA put the focus on product innovation, presenting latest offerings from renowned brands Jonas Ihreborn, Luxxbox, Framery, Sedus and +Halle.

In an expansive warehouse space above its usual quarters, Great Dane brought its unique style with long, blue snaking modular sofas, where visitors photographed themselves to go in the running for a delicately designed Verpan lamp.

Across the road at HAY, a colourful cubby house – indeed the Colour Crate House – constructed by the team from numerous multi-hued crates (constructed from recycled content) created quite the buzz among visitors.

The ultimate hosts, K5 Furniture was home to multiple in-depth conversations – including Masanao Hamaguchi speaking with K5’s Suzette Jackson on the values and design thinking of craft furniture from the Hida Takayama region in the Gifu prefecture of Japan.

At ownworld crowds arrived early for the packed-out Publish Me! Panel discussion, and finished the day with music and dancing with DJ Dowel Jones on the decks. Just around the corner, Tait turned on its outdoor hospitality, staging a ‘how to create a natural Australian garden’ workshop with Phillip Withers.

With plenty to touch and look at, Surface Gallery and Style Timber Floors teamed up with design studio Hot Black delving into dreams and fears to present a Utopia x Dystopia installation.

At the centre of Melbourne’s CBD design scene

At Winya Indigenous Furniture presented the Woolee Woolee Keetwanta – An Indigenous Art Projection, and dazzled guests with a performance by Meriam drag artist and reigning champion of Miss First Nation, Cerulean.

Always a popular CBD destination, SZW with Omvivo and e&s hosted a champagne and oyster hour with David Hicks and showed off pop-y pink bathroom concepts, as well as the latest kitchen and bathroom concepts.

At Signature Floors, guests observed artists wielding tufting guns to highly creative effect. Meanwhile, at Aspect Furniture, the company teamed up with Dunlop Foam, Camira Fabrics, Autex, Wise Wool, and Critical to put the focus on sustainable products and manufacturing processes.

HOW. teamed up with Autex Acoustics for this edition of Saturday Indesign, working with RMIT to stage The Project and in-depth discussions for attentive audiences.

At Brickworks, an exhibition of work by architectural photographer Derek Swalwell was on show, and a rich conversation around Growing Graduates Into Leaders proved to be highly relevant and engaging.

This year’s Saturday Indesign is a wrap – but the journey continues!

Did you love all the installations you saw at Saturday Indesign? Vote for your favourite Project for your chance to win.

Explore the Saturday Indesign Afterparty – an event to remember!

Get ready for next year’s Saturday Indesign, returning to Sydney for 2024.

We love seeing all your photos. Share your experience using #saturdayindesign, and see more highlights @saturdayindesign.

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Home to our transport partner, Neolith, Richmond is the perfect base to explore not only the exhibitors who call this precinct home, but also our other participating showrooms located across the CBD and Collingwood precincts. Check out what timed events are on offer and then follow the event map to navigate your way around the full Saturday Indesign footprint. Walk, jump on the tram, car pool or have the full event experience by hopping on and hopping off our free bus loops which stop at each exhibitor location thanks to Neolith. 

Be sure to pick up your very own Saturday Indesign x  Living Edge tote along the way to store all of your event treasures throughout the day. 

Richmond is one of the program’s biggest precincts, and it’s set to bring its A-game. With so much to see and do, let us take you through the highlights to help you plan your design adventure. For more on what to see and do – be sure to visit our What’s On page. 

Top up your design knowledge with the Saturday Indesign speaker series

Richmond is ready to bring you some new design knowledge with five design discussions that will help inform your practice. With leading speakers such as Brenton Smith (Bates Smart), Hayley Michell (Mitchell and Eades), Ruby Shields (Wowowa) and more, be sure not to miss the educational lineup in Richmond Precinct. 

Start early over at Jardan with a session on Designing for beauty and the environment. Kicking off at 9:00am, this early talk will set the tone for your Saturday Indesign experience, helping you to discover the brands, product designers and architects pioneering a new course in future-focused design and manufacturing. 

From here, head straight to Winning Appliances for a 9:45am session that will involve a thought-provoking exploration of the design landscape, helping you identify the components of a project that truly matter. 

Keep the design knowledge ticking over at 10:30am with an exploration of design maximalism at Arthur G with Don’t be afraid of colour and pattern and zero in on the The secret to successful design collaborations at 12pm just in time for lunch with a transatlantic session hosted by Reece. Titled Travel-tecture: Is sustainable luxury the future of hospitality and travel?, this session will look at how the travel and hospitality verticals are responding to a demand to not only be sustainable, but also engage with locals and volunteerism. 

Wrap up your learning experience at 3pm with Cosh Living and Cantilever as we explore the topic: Australian Designed & Made: Successful Design Collaborations. 

Creative installations, tours and workshops

For activations you can get involved in, be on the lookout for exhibitors who are offering something a little different to your Saturday Indesign experience.

Go full immersive with an exclusive Project Collaboration between Fraser and Partners x Reece + Neolith. Available to visit all day, step into a mesmerising VR adventure where you don the goggles and find yourself whisked away to a breathtaking utopian Bathroom scape, where imagination knows no bounds and dreams become reality.

Head over to Arthur G to embark on a journey through their newly renovated showroom, and experience their latest collection of made to order living, dining and bedroom furniture. Curated under the creative direction of Bek Sheppard, the latest collection is an expression of rich textural palettes, designed to excite and inspire your own aesthetic direction (or utopia).

At Living Edge, check out 100 years of Herman Miller – an exciting installation originally unveiled at this year’s Milan Design Week. The exhibition showcases graphics from Alexander Girard, Irving Harper (responsible for the “free” M in Herman Miller’s logo to this day), John Massey and his protégé Steve Frykholm. Join in to see a selection of the iconic posters, posters will also be available for sale.

Join the tour at Mobilia and embark on a design experience at their expansive Richmond showroom, where a world of design and European elegance awaits. Within this design haven, you’ll find Mobilia’s flagship brands – Cassina, CC-Tapis, Moroso, Poltrona Frau and Kettal – and also the company’s latest addition, cultural design brand Codiceicona. 

Head to Cosh Living and Cantilever for Behind the scenes: Local design and making process. Chat to head designer Justin Hutchinson and the Kett Furniture team about their brand-new collections Portland, Feathertop and Bellbrae. The Cantilever team led by Travis Dean and Kylie Forbes will be on hand to present the EDIT kitchen and showcase newly completed projects and answer any questions.

If workshops are more your style, head over to Molteni&C + V-Zug at 10:30am, 1:30pm or 4:30pm to enjoy a signature canape demonstration and tasting by V-ZUG. Also not to miss: Design Precinct + Didier for your chance to Meet The Designer, Ross Didier throughout the day. At 10:30am and again at 2pm, join in for a Technical Zone – large panel cutting workshop at Design Precinct, an interactive experience held by master tiler, Grayson, showing how to cut super large format porcelain panels without either your heart or tile breaking. Throughout the day at Winning Appliances, treat yourself to a range of demonstrations by Gaggenau, Miele, Smeg, Fisher & Paykel, V-ZUG as well as a Masterclass with Serigio Perrea, coffee demonstration, and portrait paintings by Archibald artist Dan Butterworth.  

Launching in Richmond this Saturday Indesign 

Join us at Saturday Indesign for the exclusive launch of two new furniture collections by Didier – TanGuor and Etiquette. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience these collections first hand and explore the expansion of the Gunzel Range.

Head to Living Edge for the Magis Launch & Aperitivo from 3pm-5pm as they celebrate and welcome Magis to their furniture portfolio. The introduction of Magis to Living Edge is not merely a celebration but a testament to their mutual commitment towards craftsmanship and innovation. Be sure to explore the Derlot x BYBORRE while there, as well as the launch of the 15M Extremis Panigiri table. 

Be there at the Opening of the first Australian Molteni&C  Flagship store. Be among the first to experience the new Flagship Store, unveiling Creative Director Vincent Van Duysen’s Living Concept – A Warm and Fluid Home.

Unbeatable Hospitality at Richmond Precinct

Keep the good times rolling and the hospitality coming with morning coffee and pastries from Reece + Neolith, who are also all set to dazzle with a lunch time experience. Recharge through the day with Cafe Jardan as you explore their latest collection.  

Bookmark both ends of your day with a tantalising Greek themed hospitality experience at Living Edge. Join them at 9am for their Greek Loukoumades Breakfast and then settle in from 12pm with even more Greek food, served alongside Extremis’ classic Belgian beer and, immerse yourself in the festive atmosphere with live music.

From 10am-5pm enjoy Grazing Boards and Bubbles with Camerich or raise a glass with Thinking Works in the afternoon. If you have a passion for Gin, you will be spoilt for choice in Richmond precinct. Head to Design Precinct + Didier for Supercheese and Olinda Specialist Cellars Gin and Wine Tasting, Arthur G for Gin Infusions & Local Delights and Cosh Living / Cantilever for a Gin tasting experience. 

Win in Richmond!

The Richmond precinct is content rich, with talks, launches collaborations and more to explore, but along the way you could go into the running to win some phenomenal prizes. 

Thinking Works are fulfilling all our Euro trip dreams with an incredible trip to Clerkenwell Design Week in London in May 2024 to see the latest in Sustainable Product Design. This prize includes return economy airfares and 7 nights of accommodation for one person. You’ll need to join the Thinking Works team at the Shaw Contract showroom in Richmond throughout the day and complete an entry form for your chance to win. Be there between 4pm & 6pm to hear the winner announced!

Keep the Euro trip vibes going when you visit Mobilia. Join their competition to be in the running to win a trip to Milano! Explore their exclusive collection of world-renowned designer furniture brands, including Cassina, Moroso, Poltrona Frau, and CC-Tapis and share your experience on Instagram to go into the running to win big! 

For prizes you can put in your homes or offices, head to Winning Appliances for your chance to take home a Missoni Home prize pack valued at over $1500. Be sure to stop in at Reece and be in the running to win The LAUFEN Sonar Counter Basin by Patricia Urquiola. Hit two birds with one stone and enter the Neolith competition to win a Bespoke Stone Plinth at the same time, with both exhibitors sharing the same showroom space. Neolith’s prize is a one-off plinth crafted from stone. 

Head to Jardan and be in the running to win one of three iconic Australian sculptures, inspired by the Byron Bay Lighthouse and the Devils Marbles in the Northern Territory, crafted by ceramicist Natalie Rosin, or pick out a little something of your choice with a $1000 Camerich Gift Voucher courtesy of Camerich. 

For more prizes and information on how to enter, visit our win page here. 

Getting around on the day

Thanks to our transport partners, Neolith, each exhibitor location is connected by our free all-day hop-on hop-off bus loop. Event handbooks and interactive maps will be available on the day.

Register today for your chance to go in the running for our prize pool of over $20,000. See you there, 2 September.

We can’t wait to see you at #saturdayindesign 

Find out what’s happening in our other Saturday Indesign precincts: CBD and Collingwood. End your day with a bang, secure your tickets to the Official Saturday Indesign After Party here.

Key event details:

Saturday Indesign
2 September, 2023
9am-5pm
Key design locations across Melbourne
Free to attend! Register now!

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