ANU Furniture alumna wins Nescafe design competition

You might think differently about the humble coffee plunger after you see how designer Christel Hadiwibawa has made use of 150 of them. 

Christel, an ANU Furniture Workshop alumna, recently won a competition by coffee giant Nescafé with her creative use of the components of the french press.

The competition gave three designers two weeks to find new uses for 150 plungers based on the theme of evolution, as part of a campaign launching a new coffee product. Christel won both the overall winner and people’s choice awards, taking home $4,500 in prize money. 

For her entry, Christel made three artworks: a light fixture, a chess set and speakers. 

A great deal of thought and time went into creating the pieces, and Christel says it was a great achievement to win.

“It’s nice to see the fruits from all the hard work I put in, and I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the challenge,” she says.

“The main thing I took away from the competition was the exposure and promotion that came along with this project. It served as a platform where I was able to introduce my work and who I am as an emerging designer to a wider audience, which is invaluable, and something that I couldn’t  have done on my own.”

“It was also great to get a taste of how a large company like Nescafé operates on a business level.”

Christel has been running her own business, ChristelH, based in Sydney, since 2011. Originally from Sydney, she moved to Canberra to complete her Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2004, graduating with Honours in 2009. 

She says her time at the ANU School of Art helped her learn to express herself creatively.

“I loved the diversity and creativity at the School of Art, and of course I developed my furniture-making and design skills there.

“The Head of Furniture workshop, Rodney Hayward, was a fantastic lecturer, who helped me hone my skills as a furniture designer and express my own creative style.”

“While I was at art school, I also learnt the importance of analytical thinking and research that is an essential part of the design process. Unfortunately this is lacking in some of the work that I’ve seen in the design industry.”

So what’s next for Christel? She has three new products being released this year, and is working on a group exhibition taking place in Sydney in October. The exhibition will feature 7 Sydney based designers, each showcasing two pieces of work that is a mixture of individual and collaborative projects. 

The videos below show Christel's winning work and include interviews with Christel explaining her design processes.