THE LATVIAN COMPANY IS RECOGNIZED AT THE GOPRO MILLION DOLLAR
Industry of award, medal and cup design is constantly changing just like the industry of fashion, interior, medicine, education or any other, and it evolves by demanding increasingly new, innovative and creative solutions. Good results in sports, excellent performance in job, invaluably productive cooperation – appreciation gestures become more and more customised, more special and challenging for the manufacturers.
“We can say for sure that for several years already a simple award, medal or cup of gratitude is not a trendy thing to give. Another impersonal medal, which disappears among others, is not desirable anymore. They are substituted by more customised symbols of gratitude with an added value and story,” designer and project manager of “Awards & Medal Studio”, Ilze Skromane, reveals.
The latest trends of award designs point at tailor-made pattern, individual approach, respectful delving into the story behind, as well as looking for new materials, design solutions and possibilities for all products – from simple medals with neck ribbons to a cup or award of considerable size.
Meeting all said conditions allowed the award workshop opening doors to new and challenging cooperation with internationally acclaimed video sports or action camera producer GoPro at the end of 2020, since it was looking for awards for its annual challenge competition GoPro Million Dollar Challenge.
Owners of the most unique video camera in the world organise the annual international competition where participants from five categories are invited to capture special, unseen, surprising and inspiring moments, events and adventures in their video stories. Active lifestyle, synergy with nature, world's beauty is the key.
A prototype of the GoPro award model can be viewed and purchased here.
This was the narrative behind the symbolic awards in the competition, which was noticed by Germany-based GoPro branch in the portfolio of “Awards & Medal Studio” choosing a combination of 100 years’ old wood elegantly processed in Scandinavian style and modern epoxy resin.
Each award made from this ancient wood and modern polymer material is a unique work of art, because due to the individual curves, characteristics and texture of wood no two identical copies can be produced. The award has two elements: oak timber and plant-based resin. A tailor-made award is manufactured from old but good quality wood, which can no longer serve for its initial purpose for various reasons, such as boards with expired service life. Timber is complemented with light blue, transparent plant-based resin. Both materials naturally converge, sparking a vividness, uniqueness and laconic taste in the award.
“People from the Northern Europe have always valued and respected tree as a great material through generations. Tree is not just an individual element of the landscape. Trees permeate our traditions, and they have been very important both in our daily lives as a fire-wood in very cold winters and as a structural component of our houses since ancient times. Forests rich in trees are place where we can find peace, relaxation and revitalising energy. Therefore, we are very happy to give the second life to trees with these awards,” author of the award idea I. Skromane tells.
According to I. Skromane, the most challenging part in elaboration of the award was the time zone differences of the parties involved in this process. Not only Germany-based branch employees, but also colleagues from GoPro parent company in the United States participated in the coordination of design and its elaboration. Successful implementation of the project was achieved due to very scrupulous planning and logistics, which would not be possible without hearing the customer's wishes, extensive experience, knowledge of the industry and reliable cooperation partners. It took three months to implement the project.
After receiving a recognition and trust of GoPro, “Awards & Medal Studio” continues working on new and creative solutions, extending the portfolio of cups, medals and awards.
Awards portfolio created by the Studio for already recognised medals, cups and awards, and brass, stainless steel, glass and acrylic awards is now supplemented with wood items and very recently also innovative concrete-based awards with integrated timber elements. A drive to discover something new and to experiment does not allow stopping at what is already achieved, and it motivates to look for, find and implement new solutions, hand-in-hand with the latest trends and customers’ wishes.
More awards you can view and buy here.