The Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) is excited to announce the search is open again for the country’s best up-and-coming designers with the launch of the 2016 edition of the MIFF Furniture Design Competition (FDC).

The annual competition, in collaboration with the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC), is open to design students and young professionals below 30 years old.

After another hotly-contested affair in the 2015 competition, the theme of “Living Furniture, Global Perspective” is retained for the 2016 battle which challenges participants to come up with unique and creative designs for the international market. With MTC back as a sponsor for the second year, the pre-dominant material for entries is wood, the backbone of Malaysia’s export-oriented furniture industry.

“Since the first FDC in 2010, we have received over 1,000 entries. This show there are many creative youngsters out there who are waiting to be discovered, and it is our aim to draw them into the industry and create a pool of designers to sustain the industry,” said MIFF Chairman Dato’ Dr Tan Chin Huat.

“The FDC is a serious commitment by MIFF to elevate the industry in Malaysia and to sharpen its competitiveness with new product development and differentiation. From the start, we did not hesitate to offer MIFF as the international platform to give the much needed exposure to contestants and manufacturers who have given their time and support to FDC.”    

MIFF FDC awards RM10,000.00 cash prize to the winner with the second and third prizes receiving RM5,000 and RM2,500 respectively. The remaining finalists get RM500 each. In addition, the finalists get to work with leading manufacturers to produce the prototypes and present them in an exclusive showcase during MIFF 2016 from Mar 1 to 5.  The winner is announced at the official MIFF Prize Presentation Ceremony on Mar 3.

Entries for FDC 2016 will be reviewed by an international jury led by Chief Judge Philip Yap, a prominent Malaysian designer-based in China, who served in the same capacity for the 2015 competition.

Yap will conduct a workshop for potential contestants at Putra World Trade here on Aug 8 (Saturday).  A session for 30 design lecturers was held earlier on July 13  to share insights into latest industry happenings to help them prepare their students for the competition.

Entries and designs must be submitted by Oct 5 (Monday) 2015.

Entries and designs will only be accepted on an official registration form which can be downloaded from www.mifffdc.com.

View MIFF FDC 2016 Intro here: