On Wednesday evening the 9th of November, 2016 MINI Australia and Junkee Media were joined by media, celebrities, and friends in the final stage of the MINI Australia BRIGHT RAYS Campaign.

At an event at Melbourne’s Kensington Collective, MINI Australia announced the winner of the BRIGHT RAYS Competition, Martin Tauts from Red Block.

Receiving over 500 detailed proposals from young designers and creatives across Australia, the six finalists selected by MINI Australia were transported to Melbourne to discover who would be crowned the coveted winner of the BRIGHT RAYS Campaign.

Throughout the evening the six finalists; Milly Dent, Hannah Smith, Emma McKinlay, sister duo Safa Itote and Desta Cullen, Jane Bell and Martin Tauts showcased their work and shared their creative visions. Guests were offered a chance to meet the young hopefuls and be inspired by their ideas and passions. On hand to congratulate and support each of the six BRIGHT RAYS finalists were BRIGHT RAYS Mentors Sasha and Russel from Koskela, Katherine Sabbath, Tiff Manuell, and Mel Tan.

The night was hosted by media personality and motor enthusiast Kate Peck, and joined by well-known guests including House Husbands, Firass Dirani, Survivor castaways Rohan Maclaren and Phoebe Timmins, The Bachelors’ Steph Dixon, St Kilda’s David Armitage and partner Jessie Hultgren, social media influencer Tahan Lew Fatt and X-Factors Brentwood and Timmy Knowles.

Later in the evening, Martin Tauts was announced the winner of the BRIGHT RAYS campaign, winning a $29K business grant, a MINI Ray for 12 months and a mentoring session with a MINI Mentor.

Estonian born, Martin Tauts started his design firm Red Block in 2015. Tauts started designing and making custom, hand-made concrete lamps coloured with earth from regional Australia, while still undertaking his studies at the Design Centre in Enmore, Sydney.

Now based in Newcastle, Red Block is a furniture and lighting brand that focuses on tying in Scandinavian and Japanese minimalism with Australian materials and modern manufacturing, with all works 100 per cent designed and made in Australia.