Sign Design Society Announces Award Winners

The Sign Design Society (London) announced the winners of its 2009 International Awards, which recognize excellence in signage and wayfinding design over the last three years. The prizes were presented at a ceremony at St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, on October 22.
Four award categories generated entries from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Portugal and the U.S., as well as the U.K. Project locales included France, Muscat, Switzerland the UAE.
A sign system for the Moreton Bay Cycleway, along the Australian East Coast, won the Public Wayfinding Award, which was sponsored by BAA Airports. Mark Ross, from Dot Dash (Sydney, Australia) accepted the award.
Sponsored by Principle Group, the Commercial Signing and Identity Award debuted this year. The sign program at the Guardian News and Media in King’s Place London won for its environmental responsibility and a sense of fun. Ian Cartlidge and Melissa Price from Cartlidge Levene accepted the award.
Sponsored by Lea Valley Colour, the Product Innovation and Ideas Award went to Selfridges in London. The judges felt the project exemplified good use of materials and the creation of a unique, but simple, system. Ian Cartlidge and Melissa Price from Cartlidge Levene and Julian Brown from Studio Brown accepted the award.
The Student Award, sponsored by Info Sign Systems, went to Laura Taplin from Ravensbourne College for her sign solution for a ski run at Les Arcs in the French Alps. Taplin received a trophy and a $1,639 check from Gary Burnham of Info Sign Systems.
The wayfinding system for the O2 Arena (formerly the Millennium Dome) won the Grand Prix Award, the top accolade. Roddy Angus, managing director of Merson Sign Design, presented the trophy to Simon Borg of Populous. The judges said the wayfinding and the commercial signs coalesced in a highly effective scheme.
Forty-five entries that are being displayed at the Launchpad Gallery in the Building Centre in London will be exhibited in Vienna in December, where it will be the centerpiece for Sign09, a seminar series on signage and wayfinding organized by the International Institute of Information Design, in partnership with the Sign Design Society.
The Sign Design Awards judges were: David Bartlett, head of design for the 2012 Olympics Village; Gary Davis, founder of the human-factors consultancy Davis Associates; Barry Gray, former signs and design manager, Network Rail; Jerry Hill, signs design manager for Transport for London; Bruce Lyle, former MD of Merson Signs; David Mercer, head of design, BT; and Mike Wolff, chairman of the Sign Design Society and former head of wayfinding at BAA Airports.