So what better way to come up with the design of the trophies than to run a competition?
That’s what manufacturer Handrail Creations did this year and the result, said managing director Kenny Macfarlane, is not only a stunning trophy, combining the beauty of wood with high tech CNC manufacturing, but also proved a valuable creative exercise for the Handrail team.
"The contest was open to everyone, machine operators, designers, sales and admin, and we set the challenge of coming up with a design concept that showed wood to best effect and reflected the diversity of the timber sector and readership of TTJ," said Mr Macfarlane. "At the same time, it also had to convey our key capabilities at Handrail; precision, complexity and repeatability."
The result was a seriously impressive array of designs.
"Everybody came up with something different, with perhaps the most out there concept being a trophy all in glass and metal – not a speck of wood to be seen!" said Mr Macfarlane. "But although they were all very different, one common thread running through them was that they set a challenge for the department the entrant came from. So the designers came up with complex styles, the machinists with designs that would pose technical difficulties! That reflects the fact that, as a business, we like to constantly challenge ourselves and push the boundaries."
While it was a tough choice, the Handrail Creations management eventually decided the trophy design that hit all the right buttons best was from CNC machinist, and soon to be promoted designer, Ben Heywood, 26.
He took a tree as his inspiration and decided to blend three wood species – walnut, ash and sapele – to highlight timber’s range of grains, colours, aesthetic and machining possibilities.
"We then sat down together and discussed how it would be produced and finished," said Mr Macfarlane. "After looking at a range of options, we decided to make it in wedges, so it was a pretty testing CNC machining project. But that’s another thing we pride ourselves on; coming up with concepts that lead to people asking ‘how on earth did they make that?’."
The 15 completed trophies were finally given a coat of clear lacquer before the winner’s name plaques were attached.
"We really just wanted the beauty of the material to shine through," said Mr Macfarlane.
Ben Heywood doesn’t get a trophy himself, but his prize is the next best thing. He will be at the TTJ Award presentations and will watch the winners waving his triumphant design proudly aloft.
