AWARDS & MUSEUMS
Dignity is a human right
Human Rights Award
In December 2011, Backpack Bed for Homeless was awarded Australia’s highest honour the Australian Human Rights Award for Best Community Organisation. The Australian Human Rights Commission honours individuals and organisations for their efforts to protect human rights; 200+ entries were received for the Awards with 40 finalists selected in 10 categories. This prestigious award recognises the leadership of Backpack Bed for Homeless in its work for giving life saving dignity to Australia’s most needy of needy . . . street sleeping homeless.
Product Design Awards
Founder Tony and his wife Lisa Clark designed the internationally acclaimed Backpack Bed together in Melbourne, Australia.
The Backpack Bed not only answered the question of what to do when homeless are turned away from shelters empty handed tonight, but also revolutionized single man camping and disaster relief in the process.
This invention for humanity has won some of the most prestigious product design awards in the world.
I don’t know of any other product that has come out of Australia that has won as many international product design awards as the Backpack Bed.
Dr Brandon Gien, President of ICSID (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design – the World Organisation for Industrial Design), CEO of Good Design Australia and Chair of the Australian International Design Awards.
Red Dot Design Award – Best of the Best
Awarded by - Red Dot, Germany 2011. The Red Dot is the world’s largest and most prestigious product design award on earth (Est. 1955). The Red Dot museum in Essen, Germany is also the worlds largest contemporary design museum.
- Previous winners include Rolls Royce and Apple Inc.
- Tony and Lisa Clark were the first Australians to ever win a Best of the Best award.
- Backpack Bed for Homeless was the first charity to ever win.
Australian International Design Award – GOLD
Awarded by – Good Design, Australia 2011. The Industrial Design Council of Australia (IDCA) was established in 1958. The Australian International Design Awards (AIDA) is recognised by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) as Australia’s peak design endorsement program.
Powerhouse Museum Design Award
Awarded by – Sydney Powerhouse Museum 2011. Since 1992 the Powerhouse Museum has been making a selection from the Australian International Design Awards (AIDA) finalists and acquiring some into the Museum’s permanent collection. As winner, the Backpack Bed is now on permanent display in Australia’s premier museum, the Powerhouse.
Melbourne Design Awards – Sport & Leisure
Awarded by – Design 100, 2012. Melbourne Australia is a recognised global design city, which features both local and international design activity. The shortlisted entries in the Melbourne Design Awards represent an annual snapshot of the sophisticated design culture in the Melbourne marketplace. For the 2012 awards, 225 shortlisted entries were drawn from 550 entries that were received.
International Design Excellence Awards – Finalist Social Impact Design
Awarded by – Industrial Designers Society of America September 2012 (Original Model) and August 2014 (Tropical Model). The Industrial Designers Society of America began in 1965 out of the merger of several organizations to include: American Designers Institute (ADI), Industrial Designers Institute (IDI), Industrial Designers Education Association (IDEA), Society of Industrial Designers (SID) and American Society of Industrial Designers (ASID).
Edison Award
Awarded by – Edison Awards, USA 2013 and also nominated 2022. Since 1987, the Edison Awards™ have recognized and honored some of the most innovative new products, services and business leaders. The Awards are named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) whose extraordinary new product and market development methods garnered him 1,093 U.S. patents and made him a household name across the world. The Edison Awards symbolize the persistence and excellence personified by Thomas Edison, while also strengthening the human drive for innovation, creativity and ingenuity.
The Australian Innovation Challenge in Association with Shell
The awards by The Australian in association with Shell are supported by Innovation Australia, the federal government’s leading statutory body supporting industry innovation. The Community Services category recognises innovation in the delivery of public services and social entrepreneurship in the not-for-profit arena.
Finalist – Premiers Design Awards
Awarded by – Premiers Design Awards 2013. The Premier’s Design Awards recognise and reward Victorian designers and businesses using exemplar design effectively and sustainably. Design is a strategic business capability and an important enabler of innovation and creativity for the growth of Victorian businesses and communities.
A’Design Awards – Silver - Social Design
Awarded by – A’Design Design Awards, Italy 2014. The A’Design award was born out of the desire to underline the best designs and well designed products. The A’Design Award for Social Design is not just an award, it is the indicator of quality and perfection in design, the award is recognized worldwide and takes the attention of design oriented companies, professionals and interest groups.
Lions – Professor Ian Frazer Humanitarian Award
Awarded by – Lions Medical Research Foundation 2012. The Lions Professor Ian Frazer Humanitarian Award is named after Prof. Ian Frazer in recognition of his medical research and assistance to the Lions Medical Research Foundation. The Award is given for outstanding services to the community or in support of medical research.
Westpac Community Leaders Awards
Awarded – 2014 – Winner Social Entrepreneur. Founder and CEO Tony Clark was awarded the Social Entrepreneur Community Leaders Award. The Westpac Community Leaders Awards recognise individual leaders making extraordinary contributions to our social fabric.
Australian of the Year Awards
Nominated – 2015 & 2016 – Tony Clark & Lisa Clark. Co-designers of the Backpack Bed Tony and Lisa Clark were nominated in the Australian of the year awards in both 2015 and 2016 for their work to assist street sleeping homeless people without shelter, lobbying efforts and human rights promotion internationally.
2016 / 17 World Designer Ranking
Co-designers of the Backpack Bed Tony and Lisa Clark were awarded the following Designer Rankings for 2017:
- #11 Designer of the World – Social Design Category – DAC
- #351 Popular designers in the world – POPDES
- #1289 Best designers of the world – R+ Designer Rankings
Museums
The Backpack Bed has been acquired by four of the world’s most premier museums:
- Essen, Germany - Red Dot Museum – worlds largest contemporary design museum
- Paris, France - Centre National des Arts Plastiques
- Sydney, Australia - Powerhouse Museum
- Como, Italy - Mood, Museum
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