Design Awards is one of Australia’s market leaders in custom plaque designs, Our two local workshops in Sydney and Melbourne are fully equipped to craft bespoke, high-quality plaques to meet your exact needs.
Whether you are looking for a sleek freestanding plaque for an awards ceremony or a more traditional flat brass or bronze plaque for a building mount, we’ve got what you need. We offer a range of different plaque types, sizes and materials as well as manufacturing methods that allow you to choose according to your requirements and budget.
What’s more is that our workshops are run by some of Australia’s most talented trophy designers and makers who will ensure that they do everything that they can to bring your vision to life. Our custom plaque design is bespoke, high-end and fit for any kind of occasion.
Choosing the Right Plaque
There is a vast array of designs, materials and sizes when it comes to choosing a plaque and that can make the process a little intimidating. However, at Design Awards, our skilled designers will be able to give you the best advice on the kind of plaque that is going to be most suited to your needs.
Here are some of their tips on choosing the right custom plaque design for your occasion:
• Size is essential: When choosing a plaque it’s imperative that you get something that is suitable for the occasion. For example, if you are having corporate awards for your staff members then something sleek and small might be best, as this allows them to place it on their desk or shelf where they can proudly display it. On the other hand, a plaque for a building or other big occasion would be dwarfed if it was too small, so make sure you get something big enough to stand out.
• Quality over quantity: It’s always tempting to come in below budget and get something that will save money, but we believe it’s always better to go with high-quality products rather than cheap ones. You know that high-quality plaques will last a long time and won’t rust or break in just a few years time.
• Styles: First, you need to consider the type of event you are having – is it sports awards, corporate awards or event TV awards? The occasion is going to determine the style of your custom plaque, and it’s best to chat with our designers to find out what will be best suited to your needs.
• Material: At Design Awards, we have a number of different materials for our plaques, and what will be best for you will depend on your event or occasion. We have acrylic, metal, crystal, sustainable material and many others to choose from.
These are just some of the things you should consider when choosing the perfect plaque for your event.
Custom Plaques Australia
We are one of Australia’s premier custom plaque suppliers and if you are thinking about getting your plaque made with us, you can rest assured that it will be a bespoke, high-end award. Please feel free to leave your details on our online contact form or simply give us a call and we’ll be happy to chat with you about your vision.
Design Awards is a team of designers and artisans that specialise in award making across Australia. We can craft trophies and medals to your order, as well as engraved plaques. Browse our website further or contact us to learn more.
We are a small team of designers and artisan makers that specialise in the creation of beautiful trophies and awards. We have two workshops, one based in Sydney and one in Melbourne, where we design and hand craft high-end awards, trophies, plaques, medallions and more.
How it all started
It all started with the state of awards in Australia. The problem was clear: meaningful award ceremonies, meaningless trophies. Think brittle plastic trophies shaped like an Oscar, think crystal mugs etched with Comic Sans. Awards were an afterthought undeserving of their recipients.
The answer, as founder and sculptor Bruce Dodds saw it back in 1994, was considered design hand-crafted in Australia. Thankfully, the idea caught on.
As a result, Design Awards has been changing the face of the Australian awards industry for over 20 years. Our design-first approach means every single award is unique, and the care and consideration taken in each award imbues a meaningfulness which cannot be achieved in mass produced items.
As we see it, design is what sets us apart and our craftsmanship is our pride.
Made in Australia, Awarding the World
Bespoke Trophies from Melbourne & Sydney to Australia and the World
We have curated our online pages to highlight what we can achieve for you, have a browse for inspiration or give us a call to discuss something completely different.
Absolutely everything we produce, from our medals and medallions to our trophies and statuettes, is completely bespoke. We believe a hand crafted, unique element makes an award that much more special, so we are more than happy to take the time to design something new and meaningful for you.
Changing An Industry. And That's The Way We Like It.
Australia’s Leading Makers of Custom Made Awards, Bespoke Trophies and Unique Plaques
We craft the extraordinary. With a huge breadth of experience spanning from Government and Business, to top tier Sports, to Not-for-Profits and Education, we have the expertise to create exactly what you have in mind. Corporate awards, premium sports trophies, deal toys, tombstones, perpetuals, centrepieces and bespoke sculptures, we are the industry leader in hand-crafted excellence, modernising the face of Australian trophy design.
Trusted by both Australian and international clients of the highest calibre who demand the most stringent of quality standards, with relationships spanning in excess of 20 years, is testament to the quality and craftsmanship of every single one our pieces. Want to know more? Check out our testimonials page.
Our Promise To You
A commitment to high-quality, creativity and craftsmanship in every trophy
What makes us unique? For starters, our design-led approach and local, in-house production. We are certainly not your typical trophy shop.
Unlike almost every other trophy supplier, we strictly do not mass-produce our awards. Instead, our team designs and handcrafts every single award and trophy because of our dedication to originality and our belief that the personal touch is so much more meaningful. In terms of custom awards and trophies, we sit at an unrivalled position within Australia, which means that you can order with confidence knowing you are in trustworthy hands. Check out our Who We Are page to see more about our ethos.
Because we have fully equipped workshops in both Sydney and Melbourne, we are also able to offer a wide range of other services online such as engraving, metal casting, aluminium printing, ID plates, unique signage and more, and have a wide selection of materials to choose from, ensuring that you get exactly what you want, plus a little bit more.
Contact one of our locations for more information on Design Awards
Discover more about our services and custom-made products by contacting us today. Call our Melbourne office on (03) 9555 0171, or our Sydney location on (02) 9439 7144. We will be more than happy to chat about what you are after in order tailor your ideal solution. You can also request a quote online and we will be back in touch as soon as we can. If you want to keep up to date, follow us on Instagram, Facebook or Pinterest. Awards with distinction, from Australia’s finest.