Seaton McKeon, a young designer based in Sydney, has won the chance of a lifetime to see his lighting design put into production by a leading Danish design company.

This is the ultimate opportunity for a young designer and is a first for an Australian. McKeon’s design will be sold worldwide through the design company, and will be available in Australia at Great Dane.

McKeon has taken out the Northern Lights Competition with his design of an inspired, functional, innovative, creative pendant lamp selected as the winner. McKeon’s Press Pendant was ultimately selected as the winner after five finalists presented their designs to a judging panel during the design and architecture event, designEX in Melbourne. The judging panel consisted of Australia’s Scandinavian luxury design specialist Anton Assaad from Great Dane Furniture, Martin Kornbek Hansen from Denmark’s &tradition, renowned iconic British designer, Michael Young and a representative from the Design Institute of Australia.

“I am thrilled to have won such an amazing prize,” said Seaton.

“I am really looking forward to seeing the Press Pendant in production. My design will be produced by &tradition, a Danish company, who are renowned for their contemporary design and innovative use of materials, giving me the opportunity for my vision to be realised,” he said.

As part of McKeon’s prize he is also given a trip to Copenhagen to explore the bastions of Danish design together with unprecedented access to behind the scenes of one of Scandinavia’s leading furniture producers.

Seaton’s design idea stemmed from the PET recyclable material.

“My inspiration came from the material, I loved the softness of it. You can get somewhat rigid forms out of it, yet it retains a soft, tactile quality; it feels like felt,” he said.

Seaton’s favourite part of the design process is the 3D modelling.

“It’s an amazing feeling when you make something that doesn’t exist and turn it into something tangible. It’s sculpturing in the virtual world.”

The competition brief was to design a simple, iconic pendant light to fit both the residential and contract markets with a retail price point of $200 – $400. The entrants were also asked to consider important manufacturing elements such as mass production and ease of production.

Great Dane’s Anton Assaad said, “Seaton’s design features clean lines and the organic nature has great appeal and potential for aesthetic longevity. His use of PET plastic will suit the contract market, adding to the green star rating of a building, while the warm and tactile nature of the design also appeals to the residential market. We are very proud that the Press Pendant will become part of our range, and that McKeon will be part of the Great Dane family.”

Martin Kornbek Hansen, founder of &tradition, was impressed with Seaton’s demonstration of tradition tied to innovation, which was also part of the brief. “Seaton has used modern materials of PET and felt, but with classic references in the simplicity of the design’s shape and form. A benefit of using recycled materials and creating a simplistic design enables low production costs and, therefore, appropriate retail pricing.”

Once the light has been produced it will be available around the world through &tradition’s distribution channels.

Iconic UK designer, Michael Young, who is based in Hong Kong and is responsible for designing icons for his clients that live a lifetime, has won numerous awards and are presented in museums globally, agrees that this opportunity is rare.

“Rarely does an opportunity present for young designers to springboard their careers and gain an instant international profile,” he said.

The judges agreed that the Press Pendant has the ability to be sold as a pendant, floor or table lamp. This demonstrates adaptability to most settings and can work with other lighting and furniture collections.

In the end it is simple yet clever designing that won the judges over.

“By sticking closely to the brief Seaton’s design demonstrated tradition tied to innovation. We feel it will have great potential in the market and are excited to nurture young talent,” Anton says.