What better way to start your year, than with DQ – hot off the press?!

This issue we’ve extended ourselves further than ever, with a flip cover edition of the Australian International Design Awards Yearbook for 2011.

Herewithin you’ll find some of the most outstanding designs in Australia today.

Better yet, we’ve used this issue to look beyond the 2011 Design Award winning products, to unearth the stories behind the designers, studios, and products themselves.

This includes a feature on the business of designing for summer industries – such as beach and surf – and takes us from ritzy umbrellas through to wave-skimming surf boards.

The Finless Surfboard designed by Tom Wegener for Global Surf Industries – a 2011 Design Award recipient.

Mi-Casa Su Casa umbrella by Basil Bangs.

Among our top Profiles this issue are interviews with the Head of Roll & Hill lighting (pictured in our hero image).

Roll & Hill work with both established and emerging designers, producing lighting for interiors that carries a subtle yet distinctive industrial aesthetic – available in Australia through Space Furniture.

The Agnes Chandelier by Roll & Hill.

Other lead interviews include Tokujin Yoshioka, who came out to Australia to launch ‘Waterfall’ in Sydney; here we ask him about the ethereality and spirituality inherent in his work…

Tokujin Yoshioka: Waterfall / Photo: Paul Green, 2011. Image courtesy Tokujin Yoshioka and Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation.

As part of our regular events coverage we hit the London Design Festival for some out-of-this-world installations, and stop in at the Copenhagen Design Week, to get a sense of the city’s charismatic design scene and unique urban culture.

Timber Wave by AL_A and Arup, photo by Susan Smart.

Copenhagen Design Week, photos by Nicolai Perjesi Photography.

Also headlining this issue is our Annual Trend Report, where we speak with 5 leading trend forecasters to find out where society and design are taking us in 2012.

You can get a headstart on this feature online, with our interview with Pantone here.

Wall panels by FORM US WITH LOVE and TRÄULLIT, available in Australia through Fred, photo by Jonas Lindström.

Brooch from Botanical Fictions by Vicki Mason

And if you’re still hungry for more, then there’s always the DQ Products and Parties, not to mention our news feed and more…

Sensory enthusiasts hook up to the new O2 Oxygen Bar in Sydney.

Artist and designer Patricia Harper releases ‘Staccato’, a range of art screens for internal and external use.

Interior designer and artist, Emma Coulter, shares her temporary Berlin studio with us.

Wilkhahn launch their new Brisbane showroom in true Oktoberfest style.

Helen Kontouris is named an Indesign Luminary, and releases her ‘Panier’ stools with Space Furniture.

Subscribe to DQ today!

Preview the magazine online here.