I am a multidisciplinary designer who was formally educated in industrial/product design but I have also worked across many other disciplines such as public art, graphic design, branding, set design and a variety of different projects that require a three-dimensional outcome.

An Australian native, I moved to Canada in 2012 and now spend my time outside the studio exploring the incredible mountains of British Columbia either by mountain bike or snowboard. When I get the opportunity, I still seek out the chance to surf in the ocean for a taste of life back home and never turn down the chance to enjoy a good coffee.

Based in Squamish, BC, Watson Design Inc. is a trophy design studio crafting boutique custom awards for businesses around the world. I founded the business in 2009 after completing my Masters degree in Industrial Design. Since then it has rapidly expanded and I now overlook a talented team of 11.

I have purposefully kept the business small to ensure exceptional standards and service and we regularly deliver projects for a host of big clients including Google, Disney and the United Nations.

We encourage collaboration between our designers and clients, allowing a shared vision to be brought to life and create beautiful and meaningful recognition products that recipients will appreciate for many years to come. We do it all - from concept through to final creation, packaging and logistics - ensuring our clients receive the awards they envisioned on time.

Design means to envisage and make something purposeful. True design goes beyond simply creating something and instead finds ways to incorporate meaning into products.

I appreciate designs that are timeless, simplistic and inspirational. As a creator of awards, it’s important to design something that holds its sentimental value for recipients long into the future. I think this is often achieved by not over complicating a design.

We pride ourselves on our ability to create awards with a clean aesthetic – without any visible fixings that detract from the overall design but with enough intricate detail to remain inspiring and show genuine appreciation.

I’m a strong believer in portraying a story within a design so that it has meaning. I think the best designs are truly unique and explore new concepts and materials or look for ways to better a product rather than mass producing something generic.

My ethos at Watson Design Inc. is to create beautiful, timeless and meaningful recognition products that recipients will appreciate for many years to come. This involves regular communication with clients to ensure designs incorporate all their key requirements and a meticulous attention to detail to achieve designs that are not only exceptional aesthetically but also structurally sound and made to last.

I love to explore new materials and manufacturing processes so I encourage this within designs to help us to continue to produce awards that are both contemporary and compelling.

Understanding our clients branding, communication goals and specific requirements is our main focus. Our methodology enables our clients to experience seamless design, production and fulfillment. From concept through to the final creation, packaging and logistics, we will make it happen. We prioritize collaboration between our designers and clients and encourage clients to share their vision to assist in the design process.

Definitely. We are surrounded by towering mountains, luscious forests and breathtaking lakes while we design and craft our awards from the picturesque town of Squamish, BC. This enables us to draw plenty of inspiration from the incredible landscape around us.

As experienced creators of custom awards, trophies and gifts, we understood the responsibility of creating a product that was completely on brand, professional and compelling. It is hugely rewarding to see that our work was not only appreciated by our client, Dew Tour, but also stood out triumphantly and captivated the attention of a diverse and esteemed judging panel within the world of product design.

In 2022, Watson Design Inc. was tasked with crafting custom awards for the Dew Tour Des Moines street style skateboard competition — one of the most high-profile skating events in the world where only the most prolific sponsored skateboarders compete. Dew Tour commissioned us to design and create custom winners trophies that reflected their brand, event theming and skateboarding aesthetic.

Seeking a dynamic design, we implemented a mixed-media approach to the awards using a combination of materials that included maple plywood, skateboard grip tape, semi translucent green acrylic, anodized aluminum and solid surface (meganite). We chose to enter this design as it showcased our ability to work using a wide range of materials and production techniques and we thought the finished product was vibrant and fun.

Requiring five contrasting materials to be reliably printed on - including the unorthodox grip tape - the project pushed the boundaries of wide format printing and brought challenges to ensure the materials worked together to create a cohesive design.

The final product successfully combined all the materials without displaying fixings to create a clean, unique and enterprising award that matched the brand style guide and brief set by Dew Tour.

I love the fact that we get to be creative. Trying new things and developing concepts means that no day is the same and it's amazing to see fresh ideas brought to life.

Working with a team of other designers is inspirational and it’s great to experience a range of perspectives within the office.

Our team are all very passionate about every project they work on so I appreciate being in an industry where everyone is excited by what they do.

Again, being based on the West Coast of Canada in beautiful British Columbia, the mountains and natural beauty on our doorstep is hugely influential for our designs and has even contributed to us creating an eco awards range.

I hope that the design industry continues to grow and that new ideas and concepts will be developed to have a positive impact on people and the planet. At Watson Design Inc. our aim is to continue to discover new materials and manufacturing processes and experiment with our award production to hopefully create more award-winning designs.

Always be forward thinking and be passionate in what you do and make. Don't be afraid to ask questions as new knowledge will only help you grow as a designer.

Learn from other designers and those around you. We are extremely fortunate to have a talented team at Watson Design Inc., each with their own unique take on design and processes, so the chance to bounce ideas from one another is a blessing and hugely important for developing new skills.

Outside of design I find skateboarder Tony Hawk and surfer Kelly Slater inspiring. Their dedication and perseverance to push boundaries and be the very best at what they do has inspired me to start my own business and explore new concepts until they work, no matter what obstacles I might come across.

Design products that will inspire others. If you have a story behind your designs then it will naturally blossom into something beautiful.