The Lexus Design Award is now in its 10^th year, a global call for young creative talent around the world to “Design for a Better Tomorrow”.

Since 2013, this international design competition has provided the chance of a lifetime for up-and-coming designers to win the prestigious award for innovative design excellence. Winners will be funded to build their prototypes with world-class mentors and reach unparalleled exposure to the global design community and media.

To encourage young creative Kiwis to enter the global competition, Lexus of New Zealand has been working with local universities AUT and University of Auckland to incorporate the competiton into course work through the semester.

Students have been supported and mentored by Lexus ambassadors Simon James and Scott Bridgens from Resident and given the task to imagine a world where design creates an enriched sense of happiness for all.

The competition encourages entrants to anticipate global challenges facing future society, engage in innovative ways which contribute to a sustainable future, yet seamlessly enhance the happiness of everyone.

We are taking a deeper look at some of the top designs from this year’s award, starting with third place winner at this year’s local competition; Tony Cao’s Advanced Sleeping Mask.

Tony Cao – Advanced Sleeping Mask

A student at The University of Auckland, Tony looked at his own sleeping patterns to draw inspiration for a design.  The resulting Advanced Sleep Mask incorporates an alternative to traditional sound-based alarm systems – and earned him third place at this year’s local competition.

After studying the topic of sleep quality, Tony realised the conflictive design of a sound alarm, aiming to improve the ways human’s wake. From his studies, he discovered people find alarms vital for their day-to-day schedules but also find them annoying and disruptive.

The solution: using light exposure to wake one up. The sleeping mask has a light/circuitry slotted within it, emitting a light that slowly increases in brightness to imitate the rise of a sun and affect the circadian rhythm.

Due to his design being implemented with an already existent idea/design (the sleeping mask) Tony believes his mask will make it easier for the general population to adopt. He also believes This design could inspire people to start thinking of ways to use our other senses that could benefit our everyday lives.

The circuitry within the mask also has a cooling mechanic to keep the sleeping mask from burning, making the mask more comfortable to sleep with.

Winners for the global competition will be announced in January 2023, selected to receive instruction and guidance from esteemed design professionals to further develop their prototypes.

To learn more about Lexus Design Award, visit www.lexus.co.nz/lda.html