The judges final selection is in, and it's surprising - all three chose widely and picked a total of eight great designs from the top twelve including four that didn't make it to the finals, but two of them lined up on one which tipped the balance. THE JUDGES' TOP PICK IS...
....Soft-Maps by Emily Fischer! We didn't expect that one person would run away with the whole prize.
To get the judge's overall winner, we applied a simple three point scoring to each of their ranked picks. The one with the most points was the only one chosen by two of the three judges. You can see our final scoring below.*
But that's just the top pick, check out which designs the judges really liked and congratulations to Emily and all these designers on being personally selected by our judges.
TINA ROTH EISENBERG aka SWISS MISS
Title: Blogger & Designer
Link: swiss-miss.com
Picks in Order:
1. Redeploy Rug by Rebekah Rauser
2. Soft-Maps by Emily Fischer
3. Constellation Chandelier by Kenzan Tsutakawa-Chinn
Redeploy Rug: My instant reaction upon seeing the Redeploy rug was wondering where we could put one in our home. The landscape pattern of the rug makes me want to touch it, lay down on it. It's an amazing beauty and I wish Rebekah could make me one with swiss military blankets!
Soft-Maps: Using a map as a quilt pattern is simply brilliant and instantly got my two thumbs up. It's equally visually intruiging as beautiful. I'd certainly proudly display one of these soft-maps in my house. How wonderful if we could get them custom made with the maps of our choice!
Constellation Chandelier: Kenzan's Constellation Chandelier convinced me in its simplicity and minimalistic beauty. Bring starry nigths right into your living room. Two swissmiss thumbs up.
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Title: Founder and Creative Director, Chilewich Sultan LLC
Link: chilewich.com
Picks in Order:
1. Good Books Shelf by Josh Neufeld
2. Le Petit Dej by Peter White
3. Nature Planter by Dominic D'Andrea & Tram Pham
The Good Books Shelf: I love the height and scale and feel that this dimension would naturally complement any room. It would accentuate the height of a ceiling which I always like (probably because I am short!) The obvious spaces that were designed for storing different size reading materials is functional and makes the surface when filled more interesting. The floating aspect feels light and modern.
Le Petit Dej: I see this concept almost more for commercial use...hotel room service trays...hospital trays. Because it requires a flower and would therefore look empty without one...it would force people to include a flower. A flower is always a welcome addition and would enhance any tray.
The Nature Planter: I love objects that are vehicles for self expression. This piece would reflect each persons individual style by their different choices and combinations of plantings. Each one would be unique…
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Title: Co-founder, Design Public
Link: designpublic.com
Picks in Order:
1. Soft-Maps by Emily Fischer
2. Hello Block Shelving by Kenn Archibald
3. Translucent Room Divider by Dan Forlenza
Soft-Maps: This product combines these for a real double-whammy. I like products that conjure up an emotional response. I think people have a certain emotional attachment to quilts and another emotional attachment to places. Personally, I'm obsessed with city grids, and the idea of putting one on a quilt is original and inspirational. If she could get the mass-customization elements down, this could be an incredible (scalable) line. I want one.
Hello Block Shelving: I love furniture that is uniform, modular, easy to assemble/disassemble, and easy to ship (in standard UPS boxes). Designers who think through manufacturability like this can hit lower price points, reap better margins, and achieve larger scale quicker. The Hello Block looks like it fits the bill, and it reminds me a bit of the Blu Dot Chicago 8-box.
The Translucent Room Divider: I love this product. It solves a problem that most of us in small apartments have: dividing the space while letting light through. I'd use this to hide my flat screen TV and components -- just tuck them away behind one. I think this product has a lot of legs, and I'd love to sell it.
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*Final Judge's Scoring:
5 Soft-Maps
3 Redeploy Rug
3 Good Books Shelf
2 Le Petit Tray
2 Hello Blocks
1 Constellation chandelier
1 Nature Planter
1 Room Divide
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
Quiltmaster approves...
view quiltmaster's profile
I saw the poster in the local coffee shop to vote for her.
view funstraw's profile
Oh snap, Sandy, breakin' all the rules. Le Petite Dej comes from outside the top 12. You naughty thing, you.
Congrats winners, way to go!
view kev_anders's profile
...that coffee shop isn't called 'the victory' for nothing! funstraw, take a good look at that mug. i make your lattes when i'm not making quilts. (or architecture, unfortunately.)
congrats to all the designers involved! best wishes,
view haptician's profile
Congratulations. I didn't vote for you because of the coffee affiliation. I voted for you because you were the best entrant. Victory is yours!
view funstraw's profile
Congratulations on a contest full of cleverly designed products. I love the softmap and redeploy rug. My personal favorite is the translucent room divider, an attractive and useful product for dividing space and hiding clutter. Like Sanoki says, 'I think this product has a lot of legs, and I'd love to sell it.'
view Namaste NYC's profile