Pop Some Bubbly, Make A Chair. It's That Time Of Year Again.

To inspire you, last year's winners are shown below:


1. Grand Prize: Cantilever Block by Adam Weisberger of Louisville, Kentucky
2. Second Prize: Kleeko Chair by Stacie Matrka of Columbus, Ohio
3. Most Popular Award: Chair Squared by Edward Cristman of San Rafael, California
Click here to see all of  last year's finalists.

Timeline:

• All entries must be sent to champagnechair@dwr.com by Monday, January 7, 2007, 5pm PT.
• Fifty (50) chosen finalists will be notified, via email, by January 9, 2008 and must send their chairs to the DWR office (225 Bush Street, 20th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94104; attn: Champagne Chair Contest) by Friday, January 18, 2008.
• Online voting will take place during the week of January 28–February 1, 2008.
• Winners will be announced online on or around February 4, 2007.

Judging criteria:
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Craftsmanship
• Creativity
• Character
• Innovative use of materials

Prizes:

• Grand Prize: One Grand Prize winner will receive a $1,000 DWR Gift Card and be featured on DWR's homepage.
• DWR Staff Favorite: One Staff Favorite winner will be selected by DWR employees and will receive a $500 DWR Gift Card.
• Popular Vote: One Popular Vote winner will receive a $500 DWR Gift Card. Winner of this award will be selected by an online poll.
• Fifty (50) contest finalists will be featured on our website and will be included in a traveling exhibition . showcased in DWR Studios across the country.

Click here for details.

Try Your Hand At Handbag Designing And Win A Murakami LV Purse!

This is your chance to win a thousand dollar purse for the price of postcard postage.

How this contest works:
You send Imprint Culture Lab an original handbag design on this template by midnight of Monday, January 21, 2008.

They will post all submissions here.
Then, everyone votes for their favorite designs.

The design with the most votes wins the handbag that started all this commotion (seen below, only the Louis Vuitton Alma bag is covered with the special murakami LV fabric "superflat" which includes the eyeballs).

You know, the one designed by that famous Japanese artist (Murakami) who made being an otaku at least as cool as carrying a high-end French luxury purse?



Above left : the design that started it all, Murakami's Louis Vuitton Alma Handbag.
Above right : The actual Murakami fabric on the winning handbag. Click to enlarge

FAQs:
You can submit as many entries as you wish
You can mail hard copies to them at:

Imprint Culture Lab
555 East Ocean Blvd, Suite 900
Long Beach, CA 90802

Or submit your design via email to: info@imprintlab.com
Be sure to include your name and contact info with your submissions.

perhaps the following two entires will inspire you:



I don't know who designed the above left, but above right is clearly an entry by one of my personal favorite designers, Scott Rench of Yosoh.

About Imprint lab:
The IMPRINT Culture Lab was founded by interTrend Communications to investigate, promote and curate Asian-sourced and inspired consumer culture. IMPRINT’s mission is to foster creativity and innovation in the business segment by connecting the cultural dots between various elements, which includes inspiration from art, media, food, fashion, product design, technology, architecture and pop-culture phenomena.

The imprint lab enables collaborative idea generation between corporate marketing and development teams and artists, designers, and entertainers who are leading and shaping global pop culture.

IMPRINT engages consumers and clients through various methods including an annual culture conference, private collaborative workshops, as well as custom consultancy and research products and services.

Start designing!

DWR's Champagne Chair Finals, Vote For Your Favorite.

Design Within Reach asked for votes for their Most Popular Champagne Chair Award.

The chairs included were selected by the design-savvy, Champagne-loving staff of Design Within Reach.

Below are the finalists from each round of voting, going up against each other for this coveted award.



The designer of the Most Popular Champagne Chair will receive a $500 DWR gift certificate and their winning chair will join the other outstanding chairs on a nationwide Studio tour.

The Champagne polling booth will close on Friday, February 9th at 5pm PT and you can vote only once, so choose wisely.

Cast your vote here.