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.

The post Design’s big day out! Melbourne delivers a sun-drenched Saturday Indesign appeared first on Saturday Indesign.

The Afterparty was hosted this year at Richmond’s newly opened 5 Star Green Star workplace campus, Industry Lanes, thanks to Salta Properties and Abacus. Welcoming over 350 guests, party-goers started streaming in at 7pm, off the back of numerous wrap-up parties in exhibiting showrooms, ready to kick on and enjoy the beautiful Melbourne evening.

The central open-skied courtyard at Industry Lanes was lit up in hues of blues, purples and more. A dedicated dancefloor with DJ provided ample space for people to dance out the day. 

Meanwhile long tables stretched the length of the event space supplying thirsty crowds with delicious drinks provided by beverage partners Handpicked Wines and Sopra Seltzer.

Crowds milled in groups and circulated, spotting old friends and meeting new faces, debriefing on their days, sharing in stories and toasting to the serendipity of excellent spring weather and a day well spent.

Held on Saturday 2 September in Melbourne, Saturday Indesign brought the city alive with a curated selection of 34 exhibitors across 26 locations, and 2000 architects, designers and design lovers hopping between showrooms spread across major precincts of Richmond, Collingwood and the CBD.

Exhibitors included –

• AJAR
• Arthur G
• Aspect Furniture
• Autex 
• AXOR 
• Brickworks
• Camerich
• Cantilever 
• Cosh Living 
• Design Precinct 
• Didier
• e&s
• ecf HFA
• Great Dane Furniture
• HAY
• HOW.
• Jardan
• K5 
• Living Edge
• Mobilia 
• Molteni&C
• Neolith
• Omvivo
• ownworld
• Reece
• Signature Floors
• Style Timber Floors
• Sub-Zero Wolf
• Surface Gallery 
• Tait
• Thinking Works
• V-ZUG
• Winning Appliances
• Winya

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

Get all your Saturday Indesign highlights here. And sign up to receive updates as an exhibitor or attendee, for Saturday Indesign 2024 in Sydney.

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

For more Saturday Indesign highlights, check out our gallery, or #saturdayindesign on instagram!

The post Saturday Indesign Afterparty comes to Industry Lanes appeared first on Saturday Indesign.

Collingwood is all about new product and exclusive launches

If you’re on the hunt for innovation, Collingwood is the precinct for you. Be the first to see the newest products that will be shaking up the design space and dive into some showcases that will take you on a retrospective journey. 

On the launches front, HAY are debuting their About A Chair Eco Range, which combines sustainable design with unparalleled comfort to revolutionise how we experience seating solutions. K5 are upping the ante with Launch it! – a series of captivating furniture product launches all converging to showcase innovation, craftsmanship, and design excellence. Wrap things up at  ecf HFA, where Johnas Ihreborn, Luxxbox, Framery and Sedus will present their latest cutting-edge products.

Then, head down memory lane at ownworld with their 11 Objects 11 Years exhibition. You’ll experience a journey through ownworld’s eleven years through eleven objects so pivotal, they shaped ownworld’s formative years and continue to influence us today. The curation stands to recognise the designers and longstanding brands who originally commissioned them. The launch includes design from — Pierre Paulin (2013) Mario Ferrarini (2014) Marc Krusin (2015) Niels Bendtsen (2016) Dowel Jones (2017) Jonathan Prestwich (2018) Guglielmo Poletti (2019) Roberto Paoli (2020) Adam Cornish (2021) Simon Pengelly (2022) Garcia Cumini (2023). 

Get all the latest knowledge in Collingwood 

Collingwood precinct is hosting a full schedule of design discussions, workshops and talks to keep your mind sharp and your design inspiration fueled! 

Kick off at 9:00am at ecf HFA and top up your CPD points with a session on acoustics. At 10:00, head to Tait for a Design Discussion that explores the biophilic design tools and strategies, and cool product innovations, that ensure a healthy connection to nature and our future wellbeing. Ownworld will host the talk Publish me! At 11:00am for an inside look on how Australia’s media landscape is looking and how you can take advantage of publication opportunities. K5 will explore their artistic side at 11:30am with “For the love of art” to take a closer look at how art can inform spatial design, while Tait will dive back into the education pool and keep the green thumbs happy with a 1:00pm session on creating a natural Australian Garden with Phillip Withers.

If you’re after some afternoon learning, AJAR will light things up at 2:00pm with a thought-provoking discussion on creating ambiance, enhancing functionality, and promoting sustainability with lighting, while from 2:00-5:00pm, K5 will welcome attendees back for a talk on Circles of Materiality and Design. 

WIN BIG when you visit Collingwood

Visiting the Collingwood precinct means you could go home with some incredible prizes including five Colour Crate prize packs from HAY, a Zanat Touch Bowl or Platter courtesy of K5, your very own Voom Side Table by Adam Goodrum courtesy of Tait, one of five incredible must-have office prizes from ecf HFA,  and a Sylvestrina Light from AJAR! To find out how to go into the running to win these fabulous prizes, check out our WIN page.

Get Creative at Collingwood

Installations and The Project are key elements of Saturday Indesign, and the Collingwood precinct is all about a fully immersive design experience. Throughout the day, they’ll be bringing you exclusive and collaborative installations from the likes of Surface Gallery + Style Timber Floors in collaboration with Hot Black, Verpan x Great Dane, Santa & Cole x AJAR, Plus Architecture x Axor, as well as an eco adventure from HAY – all must see interactive experiences not to be missed at Saturday Indesign! 

And it doesn’t end there, with countless other experiences including tours and hospitality offerings, check out the Saturday Indesign What’s On page to get the full rundown and plan your Collingwood experience at Saturday Indesign. 

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, Richmond. 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!

The post See what the Collingwood Precinct has in store for Saturday Indesign appeared first on Saturday Indesign.