Always on the pulse of what’s new and next, W Brisbane has teamed up with the innovative Queensland University of Technology (QUT) to unearth the Sunshine State’s emerging artists across the W brand passion points of design, music and fashion.
The collaboration with QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty is a first of its kind for the hotel and will offer local design, fashion, visual art and music students, an incredible opportunity to catapult their career with exposure on a national and potentially global scale.
Kicking off a series of programming that will showcase the creativity, innovation and originality of the next generation of artists was a design competition that pushed students to think with a W and ‘Sunshine State of Mind’ mindset.
Students were tasked to create a forward thinking design centred around W Brisbane’s stellar design narrative, ‘A River Dreaming’ for the Insta-famed W sign at Level Four’s rooftop bar, WET® Deck overlooking the iconic Brisbane River.
Global Brand Leader of W Hotels Worldwide, Anthony Ingham shared that the collaboration with QUT Creative Industries could uncover the state’s next-big talent. “Queensland and Brisbane are home to incredible talent. As a scene-setting destination, W Brisbane is synonymous with a vibrant, energetic lifestyle and who better to work with for a bold new sign design, than boundary-pushing students. We are excited to seek out and support those who will lead and inspire the next generation.”
After narrowing it down to four finalists, a panel of leading industry judges including Ingham, Bruce Ryde – Vice President Luxury Brands APAC at Marriott International, Haldon Philp – General Manager of W Brisbane and Nic Graham – celebrated interior designer of W Brisbane, selected the winning design.
The chosen design by Lyle Duncan, who has just completed his first year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Visual Art, blew the judges away. Inspired by the Brisbane River, his design nods to both the river’s physical form and the water of the river which continues to give life to the city.
“Lyle has created a graphically striking design which is immediately distinctive with the W brand identity. A simple water pattern made dynamic with the splice mismatching as it echoes current streams in contemporary art and graphic design, indigenous influences and most importantly, the river outlook and the iconic black and white graphic surrounding the swimming pool,” said Nic Graham of the winning design.
Lyle’s winning design on the W sign was unveiled on 4th December at WET Deck, as well as being the featured wrap of W Brisbane’s BMW X5 that is always on the roads taking guests to where they need to be. In an epic addition to this accolade, Lyle will also receive for a month from Brisbane BMW, an all new BMW 1 Series wrapped in his design to cruise around Brisbane.
With design and fashion forming part of the Creative Industries curriculum, the ongoing partnership will also see QUT students tasked to reimagine W Brisbane’s High Tea experience in 2020.
W Brisbane’s High Tea of Aus has quickly become a popular experience for both guests and the local crowd and now QUT students will work alongside the hotel’s expert culinary team to create a new delectable menu and experience to be launched in the hotel’s Living Room Bar.
W Brisbane’s Music Curator and resident DJ, Kane Dignum (‘Little Fritter’) will also spin the decks to uncover some of Brisbane’s up-and-coming performers together with QUT’s music students, delivering a series of live gigs at both of the hotel’s signature bars, WET Deck and Living Room Bar in 2020.
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