Glyptodon Community Bank by Graham Parker Ansell
The cast brass Glyptodon Community Bank by Graham Parker Ansell swept the first annual Gift For Life “Make Change” design competition, receiving both the Peoples’ Choice and Designer Distinction Awards at the New York International Gift Fair earlier this month. The inaugural contest required established and emerging designers to reinvent the iconic piggy bank with unique and innovative, yet functional, elements.
The winning bank, cast in ½ inch thick brass, standing 12 inches tall and 22 inches long, is shaped like a Glyptodon, an extinct South American quaternary mammal, allied to the armadillos. Created with public display in mind, and designed as a means to collect funds for local charities, the Glyptodon Community Bank is both weatherproof and theft-proof. A brass bell under the lockable coin slot rings when donations are made, and as coins collect, the cantilevered container causes the head to pivot upward and the eyes to point upwards to the sky. At capacity, coins empty into the main reservoir; the head nods “yes” and returns to its original position.
“The Glyptodon was impressive in its design, its materials and its functionality,” said Dorothy Belshaw, NYIGF director and GLM senior vice president. “It also served its intended purpose – of community giving – by collecting nearly $500 towards Haiti’s earthquake relief efforts through public display in Albuquerque, New Mexico,” where the 24-year-old artist resides.
Nine finalists’ designs were displayed in the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center’s Crystal Palace lobby during NYIGF. The Glypotdon Community Bank received both the Designer Distinction Award as determined by professional designers Mark Blackwell, Sandy Chilewich and Evette Rios; and the Peoples’ Choice Award based on voting by market participants. As the winner, Ansell will receive one complimentary exhibition space for the winter 2011 NYIGF.
Information about Ansell and his work is available online at myspace.com/grahamparkeransell.
Proceeds from the competition will benefit the charitable efforts of Gift For Life and its sole beneficiary, DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS, one of the largest funders of HIV/AIDS service and education programs in the U.S. Since its founding in 1984, DIFFA has mobilized the resources of the design communities to provide more than $38 million to hundreds of AIDS organizations nationwide. For more info, click the “About GFL” link at the top of the page.
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