Independent Sydney designer Matthew Sheargold has won the annual Design Pitch award at Ideas Week 09. Sheargold took out the major prize, which includes a trip to Milan Design Expo 2010, for his piece of work titled 'Six of One'. The functional bowl is divided into six equal parts, which can be arranged in a series of designs depending on the desired use. "We I initially designed it I was fascinated with things that can do something else, I was looking at objects that can be something else, trying to rationalise the number of objects in our lives," said Sheargold.What he ended up with was a series of pieces made of polycarbonate, which are held together by magnets embedded beneath the surface of each side. The pieces can be used to from a fruit bowl in a donut configuration, a long plate, individual plates or an object for decoration."The biggest challenge of the whole exercise was making it look as if there was no connection or fixing, making them discrete so that people would be surprised when they played with it." Sheargold said he had been working on the project consistently for about 18 months and that it had been a “labour of love”. "I funded it all myself, developed it myself, as well as having my day-to-day job," he added. "I have worked on projects for manufacturers, but I wanted to go through the production process myself with this."The interior designer launched his own business last year and said winning an award such as Design Pitch shows that he made the right choice. "The hardest thing as a product designer or furniture designer in Australia is earning a living. If you were just designing or selling in Australia you won’t make enough money. There are more manufacturers and suppliers in Europe, you need to be selling in Europe and getting sales on the board to make enough." Sheargold hopes to launch Six of One into the European market after the April expo.
