The local IIDA Illinois chapter recently held their annual RED (Recognizing Exemplary Design) Awards. Out of the award shows throughout the year, this one “feels” more authentic than the others. This year there were 114 entries from 43 design firms. I want to mention that I am genuinely happy for people who win these awards. You could feel the heart felt thanks that the various winners mentioned in their acceptance speeches. I could also tell how much the the award show means to the project lead if he/she didn’t even show up to accept the award. You can often read how firms are based on the their employee’s “aura”.

Sure all the projects look pretty and gorgeous but it would be interesting if someone started an award show where the categories were based on project costs - $70-80 SF, $80-90 SF, best reuse of existing furniture, ETC, ET-muthafreakin-C…..

I also want to specially mention that Emily Bruere’s acceptance speech of the Michelle Roberts Student award was inspiring. She was very excited and gave thanks to the support of her husband who “encouaged me to quit my job and pursue my career in Interior Design”. The Marwen organization was the beneficiary of the night as well. Their most recent campaign is “MAKE IT BIG” which is something I truly stand behind. It is a lot hard to scale UP an idea than it is to scale DOWN.

Below are the images from the winning projects, enjoy.