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Australian Good Design Awards: A Kilo of Post-Consumer Plastic Turned into a Tick of Approval
Since 1958, Good Design Australia has presented the Australian Good Design Awards to design projects from any country. The trophies are handed out at a ceremony in Sydney.
In 2022, the organisation commissioned the current trophy from Clandestine Design Group. Its chief executive, Brandon Gien, describes it as a piece that embodies the values of the awards: design excellence, innovation and positive impact. The studio says the brief called for a trophy designed and made in Australia from Australian recycled materials.
This article looks at the trophy’s design and materials, and at the lessons it offers brands that want to design their own.
Contents
- Design and Materials of the Australian Good Design Awards Trophy: Plastic Slabs and an Aluminium Tick
- Winning the Australian Good Design Awards Trophy: Six Distinctions
- Australian Good Design Awards Winners in the Press
- A Trophy That Practises What It Rewards: Lessons for Brands
- Australian Good Design Awards 2026: Key Dates
- Rewarding Design with Plastic That Holds Its Tick of Approval
- Frequently Asked Questions
Design and Materials of the Australian Good Design Awards Trophy: Plastic Slabs and an Aluminium Tick
Clandestine Design Group takes the award’s logo into three dimensions: two plastic slabs form the “D” and a tick —the mark of approval— runs through them. The studio says this composition reproduces the logo and brings recycled materials together with an extruded aluminium profile.
A horizontal groove separates the upper slab from the lower one. The tick crosses the groove diagonally and protrudes at the top right, joining the two slabs. The name of the award is embossed on the upper slab.
Good Design Australia says each trophy contains one kilo of compressed Australian post-consumer plastic, with an extruded aluminium tick of Australian origin set into it. Defy makes the plastic in five steps: collection, washing and shredding, filling the mould, heat with compression, and assembly. Bespoke Aluminium makes the profile. The compression leaves red, blue, green and yellow particles visible.
The trophy has had two designs since 2018. Good Design Australia describes the material of the first as a combination of plastic collected from the ocean and 100% recycled polymer:
| Stage | Studio, material and technique |
|---|---|
| 2018 | Evolve Group: injection-moulded plastic tick |
| Since 2022 | Clandestine Design Group, with Defy and Bespoke Aluminium: two slabs of compressed post-consumer plastic and an extruded aluminium tick |
In 2022, Clandestine Design Group redesigned the trophy: the tick, which in 2018 was the whole piece, now runs through a body shaped like the logo. The finish identifies the level: green for Winner, gold for Gold, silver for Best in Class and black for Award of the Year.
Winning the Australian Good Design Awards Trophy: Six Distinctions
In 2026, the awards covered 13 disciplines and more than 30 categories. National and international experts assess each entry in three stages against three criteria: Good Design, Design Innovation and Design Impact. Projects from any country can enter, provided they were completed or on the market before the ceremony.
Four of the six distinctions show how the recognition narrows, from the project that demonstrates excellence to one chosen from across all disciplines:
| Distinction | What it recognises |
|---|---|
| Winner | Projects that demonstrate design excellence |
| Gold | Around five projects in each category |
| Best in Class | The best projects in each subcategory |
| Award of the Year | One project from across all disciplines and categories |
In addition, Best in Discipline recognises the best project in each discipline, and Sustainability recognises a project that demonstrates excellence in sustainable design.
Winners receive a package that turns the result into communication material. Its main elements include:
- Registered badge: unrestricted use of the award’s registered trademark, which lets winners display the distinction on products, websites and presentations.
- Permanent profile: a lifetime listing in the Good Design Index, which keeps the project easy to find for clients and the press.
- Press release: a statement with personalised comments from the jury, providing a citable outside assessment.
- Trophy and certificates: one trophy and two certificates, leaving a physical piece and a document to display.
Turn your award’s logo into a three-dimensional trophy
Custom design, care in every detail
Design your custom trophyAustralian Good Design Awards Winners in the Press
ArchitectureAU, an Australian publication for the architecture sector, reported the year’s winners on 12 October 2026. SolShare, by Allume Energy, received Award of the Year and Sustainability. The story also detailed the Best in Class winners in architecture, interiors and research.
This coverage, generated by an outlet without payment from the winner, is known as earned media: visibility a project gains when a third party decides to tell its story.
For the winner, the story leaves an indexed reference linking their name to the distinction and its level. Potential clients and collaborators can consult it when assessing their work.
A Trophy That Practises What It Rewards: Lessons for Brands
The trophy carries into its construction the criterion the award assesses. Three decisions apply to any brand designing its own:
- Choose a material that matches what the brand rewards: when the material answers the criterion being honoured, the trophy proves it without explaining it. Here, one kilo of post-consumer plastic per piece corresponds to a sustainable design category the awards have maintained since 2007.
- Reserve one design element for each level: the six distinctions share a silhouette and change finish. Each level is recognisable at a glance and the family stays coherent.
- Give each piece a citable origin fact: a figure per unit, such as the kilo of plastic per trophy, gives the press and the winner a concrete reference. That way they can tell the story of the object.
A material chosen for the criterion being honoured and one design element per level make the trophy apply that criterion.
Australian Good Design Awards 2026: Key Dates
The 2026 edition ended with the ceremony on 9 October, and the 2027 dates are yet to be published. Good Design Australia publishes the call for entries timeline:
- 3 March: entries open.
- 20 March: early-bird registration closes.
- 8 May: extended entry deadline.
- May to July: jury evaluation.
- August: results notification.
- 5 to 9 October: Good Design Week, with daily announcements by level.
- 9 October: ceremony in the Grand Ballroom at ICC Sydney.
Give your award the shape of your brand
Custom design, care in every detail
Design your custom trophyRewarding Design with Plastic That Holds Its Tick of Approval
The Australian Good Design Awards trophy turns the award’s logo into volume: two slabs of compressed post-consumer plastic form the “D” and an extruded aluminium tick joins them as a mark of approval. In this way, the award’s symbol reaches the winner’s hands as an object with its material in plain view.
At Sustain Awards we design and make custom trophies with a handcrafted character, based on what your brand wants to reward; if its logo lends itself to a three-dimensional form, the piece can make it the centrepiece.
If your brand recognises resourcefulness with materials, the range of post-consumer recycled plastic trophies includes 100% recycled bases.
