Industrial Designer of the Year 2025: Annaka Hoelk

Sometimes, if you want something done right—or at least the way you want it done—you’ve got to do it yourself. Since graduating from Emily Carr University in 2023, Annaka Hoelk has mastered that DIY ethos, quietly turning everyday objects into poetic statements. Her refined furniture, elegant lighting and artful home pieces are proof that, as she says, “good design connects us more deeply to our environment.”

As a designer, Hoelk believes the perfect piece of home decor—whether it’s a vase, lamp or even her Blue Sky incense holder—should be all about love. The right objects are “luxuries… the little cherry on top of your life,” she says. “The things you don’t need but you really, truly, deeply want.”

That pursuit of delight defines her design: clean lines, translucent materials, punchy colours and bold forms combine functionality with emotional impact. Rooted in personal necessity—many pieces began life in her small Vancouver apartment—Hoelk’s work is guided by one philosophy: design should enrich daily rituals, making the ordinary feel extraordinary.

Take the Blank coffee table, for instance—crafted from dual sheets of tempered glass floating in a white oak frame, it’s simple, practical and serene. At the time, she needed a coffee table “that had some amount of… not storage, but layers,” she says. “You can have things on the lower level and still eat or have coffee on the top level.”

The glass, of course, keeps beautiful things visible, without cluttering the surface, “like museum specimens,” explains Hoelk. Hoelk has since expanded the table line to include clear or smoked glass and oak or black frames—it’s even available in longer formats built from her clean, layered aesthetic.

Hoelk’s fascination with translucency shines brightest in the ethereal Nook vase, a concept she developed after returning to the acrylic experiments of her school days. (It also captured the attention of judge Caine Heintzman of A‑N‑D, who praised Hoelk’s work for its “refined finishing, sensitive use of colour and evocative play of translucency,” as well as its “mature aesthetic sensibility and iterative evolution.”)

She traces the origins of Nook’s design back to the work of her floral-artist mother. “I love flowers. I grew up with that in our household,” she says. “I always thought vases could do more than just hold water.” With three enclosed translucent sides and an open front, the vase adds a layer of the hidden to otherwise showy blooms. The frosted acrylic walls blur floral compositions, evoking Impressionist brushstrokes and gently guiding how we perceive each stem. “A good vase influences how you style flowers,” says Hoelk, “enhancing their beauty by strategically obscuring or revealing their form.”

Judge Mischa Couvrette of Hollis and Morris celebrated the design, noting that Hoelk’s use of translucency is “particularly captivating” for how it creates an experience that turns a simple stem into an artistic moment.

Hoelk continues this exploration with the Paynes vase, crafted from milky acrylic and repurposing the visual language of corrugated packaging into something more sculptural. The piece is purposefully multipurpose yet avoids the trap of over-engineering: its compartmental design is a nod to ikebana and encourages deliberate placement, not clutter. After all, she says, “Why hide beauty inside drawers?” Judge Fiete Schlüter of Vitra noted the “unexpected shades” that arise from the piece’s layered composition.

Lighting was where Hoelk’s practice began, though she admits that manufacturing and regulatory complexities have limited its role in her more recent collections. Still, the sculptural Nui floor lamp, first developed at Emily Carr, captures her lighting philosophy: it’s “a physical presence and something ephemeral that transforms an entire space,” she says. Its stainless-steel cone and acrylic accent bridge form and atmosphere, even when the light is off.

With her understated creativity, Annaka Hoelk proves that good design doesn’t just fill space—it enriches our experience. And, just two years into her career, she’s only getting started.

Q&A: Annaka Hoelk on Design

Any podcasts you follow?

I follow many, many podcasts, but my favourites are The Sporkful, Gastropod, Radiolab, Unexplainable, 99 Percent Invisible and Ologies with Alie Ward—all great for weird and wonderful factoids alongside thought-provoking journalism.

What is the most perfectly designed object?

Although it’s perhaps an expected answer, the Eames moulded plywood lounge (not the same as the famous upholstered one with the ottoman) is truly masterful. How a piece of hard plywood could feel so perfectly comfortable and supportive is beyond me.

What are your design pet peeves?

I really don’t like materials masquerading as other materials. Fake distressing, thin veneers or “faux” anything. If you want your wood to look aged, buy vintage or wait until it ages, and if you’re not going to have a piece of furniture long enough to see that happen, we have other problems to contend with. I understand that some materials are expensive and out of reach, which is why we try to imitate, but personally I’d rather work with something attainable and use it creatively than mimic something I can’t afford. Great pieces can come from humble materials just as much as terrible things can be made from the most beautiful marble.

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