Award Category: Applied Art and Design Award

For more than 30 years, Joel Berman has created functional work in glass that explores texture, light, pattern, colour, shape and form. He is an internationally recognized designer who has reinvented the world of glass design by exploring new techniques for use in a wide range of applications in corporate, commercial, hospitality, retail, governmental and residential environments worldwide. Joel Berman Glass Studios is located on Vancouver’s Granville Island.

Shawn Place designs and hand builds high-quality furniture. From the shaping of the timber to the hand weaving of the cane, each piece showcases traditional craftsmanship wrapped in a modern aesthetic. Place is a self-trained skilled craftsman who is adept at all forms of millwork, joinery, finishing and caning. His product line includes a side table and a group of unique chairs.

An internationally recognised pioneer in the diving industry, Phil Nuytten has spent over forty years developing the technology to allow longer-length deep diving expeditions with increased human safety. Nuytten’s one-atmosphere systems – the hard-suits ‘Newtsuit’ and ‘Exosuit’ and the “DeepWorker” submersibles – are renowned internationally for opening the ocean’s depths to exploration and industry. This deep diving equipment, along with Nuytten’s military submarine rescue system (designated ‘Remora’ by the Royal Australian Navy and ‘PRMS’ by the US Navy), is standard in nearly a dozen of the world’s navies. His goal has been to provide scientific, technical, military, and sport divers full access to continental shelf depths without the hazards of decompression, so that humans can explore, learn about, and – ultimately – protect the world’s oceans.

In her line of functional pottery, Cathi Jefferson strives to elevate the ordinary to something special. Her dishes – cups, mugs, teapots, tableware and bowls – reflect this in their form with interesting and strong pieces inspired by nature. Her wheel throwing skills allow her to produce extremely thin-walled yet durable stoneware and her salt-fired finishing technique gives each piece varying textures and rich, earthy tones.

Inspired by the west coast rainforest outside her Cowichan Lake studio, Jefferson’s skills as a ceramic artist have been developed and honed over 35 years. Her career as a studio-trained potter began in 1974 under mentor Herman Venema in Matsqui and she received formal arts training at Kwantlen College and the Fraser Valley College. Jefferson has taught clay at the University of Victoria, the Emily Carr College of Art + Industrial Design and the Kootenay School of Art. Her craft has taken her around the world including leading workshops around North America, the UK and Korea and residencies in B.C., Alberta, Main, Japan, the U.K. and at The Archie Bray Foundation in Montana.

Her studio, Cathi Jefferson Pottery, is located near Duncan on Vancouver Island.

Hunt & Gather is Purschwitz’ line of hand-made clothing that bears her signature style, combining the functional with the conceptual. Utilizing used, found and organic materials, her clothes are contemporary and futuristic, while maintaining their hand-made characteristics.

In a year- long research project called Makeshift (September 1, 2009-September 1,2010, Purschwitz wore only clothing and accessories she designed and made herself including her shoes, undergarments and coats, and documented her journey on a blog that gained world-wide attention.

Purschwitz studied at the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design before starting her Hunt & Gather clothing line in 2004. She has designed costumes for live productions and art performances in Canada and around the world including designing the uniforms for Vancouver Vancouver Vancouver, a public art performance that was part of the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

Purshowitz’ Hunt & Gather clothing and the Makeshift project are online at www.huntandgather.ca

Designers Toby Barratt, Pamela Goddard and Nik Rust are Propellor Design, a Vancouver-based multi-disciplinary design studio specializing in lighting, furniture and exhibition design. They are committed to creating useful, beautiful and sustainable objects that strike the balance between aesthetics, function and sustainability. Using renewable, recycled and reclaimed materials including ecoresin, bamboo, reclaimed Douglas fir and vintage glass, many of their designs are inspired by, and named after B.C. places and landscapes.

Propellor Design creations are showcased in B.C. and around the world including 20 large scale chandeliers in Vancouver’s newly renovated Queen Elizabeth Theatre, and feature lights for more than 20 LuluLemon stores across North America including New York and Los Angeles.

Barratt, Goddard and Rust became creative allies while studying sculpture at Emily Carr University of Art + Design and started Propellor Design in 2000.

Feathercraft Folding Kayaks are a unique combination of technology, design and ingenuity born from a need and passion from founder, designer and owner, Doug Simpson. While in university, Simpson spent his summers prospecting for mining companies and it was in the bush where he found the inspiration for Feathercraft Folding Kayaks. His passion for kayaking and nature and his idea of a having a boat he could carry on his back, led him to design a strong, lightweight aluminum framed kayak that folds into a backpack. The Feathercraft brand has become respected around the world for their high quality workmanship, materials, and innovative designs and is sold all over North America, Asia, Europe and the South Pacific.

Striving to develop designs that bridge the gap between users and technology, Robert creates compelling and engaging products and experiences through a strategic balance of business, science and art. A 1998 graduate of the industrial design program at the Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design (ECU), Robert has worked on a diverse range of innovative and award-winning projects in a variety of mediums, including consumer products, equipment, packaging, and environments. Robert is a strong advocate for the promotion of industrial design in British Columbia and is an active member of the BC Industrial Design Association. In 2006 he founded Tangram Design with the goal of creating products and experiences that are compelling for people to engage with but are also profitable for BC companies to produce.