Anibou Prize Winners Announced

First Prize: Brud Studio

Brud Studia is a Melbourne-based design studio founded in 2020 by Mitchell Zurek and Andrew Kelly. Combining brutalist and primitive design methods with contemporary absurdist ideologies, the studio creates furniture and objects that blur the line between art and function.

The duo’s approach is simple yet direct: sanding, slotting, and hammering. These rudimentary techniques, enhanced with modern technology, shape the final pieces. The result is a sculptural sensibility, with expressed joints, jagged profiles, and intersecting planes in laser-cut aluminium, making each work feel experimental and tactile.

As partners in both life and work, Mitchell and Andrew's creative process is shaped by both harmony and tension. Their designs reflect the duality in their relationship: the balance of peace and conflict. Mitchell’s minimalist ideals often clash with Andrew’s absurdist concepts, creating an ongoing creative tension. This dynamic translates into each piece’s form, scale, and dimension, acting as an abstract expression of their collaborative journey.

Brud Studia continues to explore sculptural and concept-driven designs, prioritising experimentation over commercial concerns. Their work remains a love language, expressing their relationship and creative vision through every object they create.

Second Prize: Mark Lilly

Being a self-taught designer and maker, Mark Lilly likes to experiment with an honest, DIY aesthetic, but with a contemporary direction. Inspirations swing from the likes of Keiji Ashizawa and Naoto Fukusawa to Alvar Aalto and Jasper Morrison, resulting in his furniture and homewares sitting somewhere between contemporary Japanese design and modernist Scandinavian form.

In light of the recent WA native logging ban and global sustainability concerns, could we look to utilise a tree's waste products as a furniture-making material instead of chopping down the tree itself? A chair was chosen to give form to this proposition, taking the beautifully intricate discarded seed pods of Banksia Grandis (a species endemic to WA) and using traditional joinery methods to create a new vernacular material language. The chair, as a typology in itself, was a declaration that not only is this a visually intriguing material, but it is also capable of meeting the demands of functional design.

Third Prize: Katrina Ramm

Katrina Ramm is a Melbourne-based furniture designer and founder of Ka Ra Studio. Graduating from RMIT with an Associate Degree in Furniture Design in 2019, she has since developed a cohesive portfolio of work showcased in both production and exhibition contexts.

With a background in interior design, Katrina approaches her work holistically, focusing on the emotive impact that objects can have within our homes and environments. Emphasising flexible design and sustainability, Katrina prioritises responsible material selection and approaches each project with consideration for small space living, concentrating on compact, multi-functional solutions that meet today’s housing needs. Katrina’s designs often explore simple, geometric forms drawn from everyday objects, reimagining the familiar into pieces that tell thoughtful and engaging stories. Her creative approach combines her love for refined, functional design with an appreciation for bold, imaginative aesthetics, blurring the boundaries between traditional furniture and sculpture. Katrina is repeatedly drawn to themes of contrast, exploring the harmonious balance found in unexpected combinations, whether through inspirations, concepts or physical forms. Her work blends simplicity, practicality, and playfulness to evoke a sense of nostalgia, creating pieces that bring a comforting, joyous, and endearing warmth to their spaces.