The winners of Australia’s peak international design awards were announced in early September at the 2023 Australian Good Design Awards in the presence of the country's design and architecture community.

Zip HydroTap Arc Plus & Cube Plus received the prestigious Good Design Award in the Product Design category in recognition for outstanding design and innovation.

Good Design Awards

The Good Design Awards Jury commented: “An optimised design with a beautiful and sensual form. We commend the design approach that took customer dissatisfaction into account, turning pain-points into innovation inspiration. It paid off, nicely done.”

The Good Design Awards are the highest honour for design and innovation in the country and reward diverse projects across 11 Design Disciplines covering more than 35 categories and subcategories. Each year, the Awards celebrate the best new products and services on the Australian and international market, for excellence in architectural design, engineering, fashion, digital and communication design, and reward new and emerging areas of design including design strategy, social impact design, design research and up-and-coming design talent in the next-gen category.

The 2023 Good Design Awards attracted high-quality design projects from Australia and around the world. These innovative projects were evaluated by more than 70 Australian and international jurors, including designers, engineers, architects and thought leaders. More than 900 entries were evaluated according to a strict set of design evaluation criteria, which includes Good Design, Design Innovation and Design Impact.

“To be recognised with an Australian Good Design Award tells the world this project not only represents design excellence, but it also surpasses the criteria for design innovation and design impact. The Good Design Award is an independent endorsement of professional design quality,” said Dr Brandon Gien, CEO of Good Design Australia and Chair of the Australian Good Design Awards.

The Australian Good Design Awards is the country’s oldest and most prestigious international awards for design and innovation with a proud history dating back to 1958. The 2023 Awards celebrated 65 Years of Good Design since the founding organisation behind the awards – the Industrial Design Council of Australia (IDCA) was first established.

“It is incredible to see how design has changed over the past 65 years. While we celebrate this important milestone for Australian design, we also pay our respects to the oldest living designers on this planet who have been designing and creating for more than 65,000 years. We have such a deeply rich and diverse design culture in Australia to draw and learn from as we shape the next 65 years of design,” said Dr Gien.

The Good Design Awards Jury spent two days at the Sydney Opera House discussing and debating which projects should be recognised with the prestigious Good Design Award accolade.

“Some of the award-winning projects from this year’s Good Design Awards are truly ground-breaking. There are so many inspiring impact-led projects this year that have embraced the power of design as a problem-solving tool – their design stories deserve to be recognised and celebrated at the highest level. We are proud to continue the legacy of celebrating design, and designers making a positive impact on our world. The Good Design Awards showcase what true design excellence looks like, to inspire others to greatness – that’s exactly what these Awards are about.”

Projects recognised with an Australian Good Design Award demonstrate excellence in professional design and highlight the impact a design-led approach has on business success and social and environmental outcomes.

“The Good Design Awards recognise and celebrate the transformative power of design to find innovative, customer-centric solutions to local and global challenges. My sincere congratulations to all the designers, engineers, architects and innovators recognised in this year’s Awards – you deserve to be celebrated at the highest level possible,” Dr Gien concluded.

Product details

Products: Zip HydroTap Arc Plus & Cube Plus

Designed in: Australia

Designed by: Design + Industry (D+I), Zip Water

Commissioned by: Zip Water

Description: HydroTap Arc Plus & Cube Plus is the redesign of the Arc & Cube taps that deliver instant filtered boiling, chilled and sparkling water. The new design includes a number of changes that improve the sparkling water delivery experience, addressing key pain points identified in consumer research.

Image: HydroTap Arc Plus (L) and Cube Plus