As the dust settles on another Saturday Indesign, we all hurriedly flock back to the office and flick  through our photos and thumb through notes gathered over a frenetic two day gallop around inner Melbourne.

Networking, over working, over indulging… whatever your approach or game plan, it’s clear from doing the rounds that the Saturday Indesign format seems to go from strength to strength with each year.  Melbourne 2010 was a big undertaking, by those behind the scenes as well as those making the rounds… there was just so much to see.

The Project was again in full swing this year, teaming designers with suppliers, the collaborations complimented and elevated both the products and their showrooms.  Zenith and Woodhead are to be commended for their “Let It Be Seen” installation.  Launching the new “Be Chair” the Zenith and Woodhead team’s swept through the gleaming new showroom interpreting the Seven Deadly Sins in their product installations with a cascade of  B’s  in varied fonts and formats, tumbling through all three floors.  Celebrating the arrival of Enea’s new Lievore designed Lottus collection;  the range of stacking seats, armchairs and collection of stools were given a bold presence alongside the sleek OH! family of lounge chairs.

The students at RMIT Interior Design were called to action by Stylecraft who made the most of their Flinder’s Lane atrium by suspending a “…play on texture, form and movement” in the form of hand folded paper geometric clouds.

Schiavello, (ever the fashionistas) brought together a mixed bag of industries to spend the day with.  Renowned fashion designer Akira Isogawa, the architectural team at Lava and the textile colour master Giulio Ridolfo.  Diversity expressed through personalisation was the order of the day, reflecting the range and versatility of Schiavello’s workstations.

As any stylist or merchandiser will attest: displaying decorative lighting well, in a busy showroom environment can be very-very difficult and a thankless task.  Euroluce and Tim Fleming of Flatland OK, however, managed to light up Exhibition St with a refined, inspiring, crisp display. “Ordinary things, beautifully lit…”  set the scene for a showroom where the unique paper decorative elements effortlessly supported the true subject: Euroluce’s stunning FLOS collection and gave the reissued and newly coloured luminaires from Jielde, the space to really sing.

Heading out from the CBD and Flinders Lane Quarter took us to Richmond to see some old friends and their new products.  Living Edge threw the doors open on their gigantic Bridge Road showroom where they share space with Cadry’s.  Hosting the Launch Pad young designer exhibition on their upper floor, they brought together the next generation of young Australian design alongside historical heavyweights like Charles and Ray Eames, the notorious Established & Sons as well as the highly regarded Andreu World collections as well as some bold new Artifort pieces such as Swamp.  As the afternoon wore on and the Chandon took full effect the RS Barcelona Foosball Table really came into it’s own and won over a legion of new fans!

Eco Outdoor’s beautifully furnished Bollinger Bar was the cherry on the showroom cake as their vast space expertly brought the outdoors: in.  Full sized birch trees, fire pits and water features gave life to the furniture and fittings affording the Kenneth Cobonpue and Eco Outdoor collections the space to really be absorbed and celebrated.  Lighting too was expertly executed with Hive’s Biba, Little People and Molly suspension lights adding to the atmosphere in each installation.

All in all, a busy but beneficial two days.  As always, there is never enough time to tick everything off the list and the prospect of another day on foot would probably be crippling.  Ultimately the coming together of the design community in this fashion serves each sector well.  The opportunity to meet, mingle and share in this way is fundamental in building on the strength of the regions design foundations.  Tired as we are, we eagerly await the opportunity to see how 2011 in Sydney will advance us even further upon this years achievements.