METAL 2008 is the fourth annual New Designer Search pioneered by Carrol Boyes Functional Art to discover and nurture new product design talent in South Africa. METAL invites aspirant designers to submit a prototype based on a specific theme.

Inspired by originality, freshness and creativity, the theme for METAL changes every year, from cruet sets to suit the Salt and Pepper theme in 2005, candleholders and oil burners for FLAME in 2006, and salad servers for SPROUT in 2007. Entrants are bound only by their own creativity to fuse three key design elements: functionality, manufacturability and aesthetics.

Organisers of this year's initiative invite aspirant product designers to create a prototype of a frame – a structure that can contain or border any article of beauty such as a mirror, an artwork, an image, an item of jewellery or the like. Carrol Boyes, arguably one of South Africa's most commercially successful product designers, explains her choice of theme: "A frame may hold a special memory, reflect a shared moment or simply contain a gift from someone close. I would like to encourage entrants to be inspired by these moments whilst designing and creating their prototypes so that these may reflect their uniqueness. I hope the theme inspires designers to create something completely original in form."

CBFA officially opened entries on 1 March 2008. The deadline for all prototypes will be the 31 May 2008. No particular experience or design qualification is necessary in order to enter. Entrants simply have to design an innovative and functional frame, make a three-dimensional example of their design, and submit it along with a completed entry form, a copy of their ID and a one page CV to Carrol Boyes Functional Art.

In order to maximise their chances of winning, designers are encouraged to produce work that can viably be manufactured in aluminium, stainless steel or pewter (the metals that CBFA manufactures in). However, prototypes submitted can be made of any material that is available to the artist, ranging from wood, to ceramics, to plastic or even wire. In terms of design, Boyes is looking for fresh and original design talent that is not derivative of her own design style.

Over the past three years, over 700 designers across the nation have entered METAL, vying for Carrol's eye, the R50 000 award and the opportunity to work with the Carrol Boyes Functional Art design and manufacturing team in the production of their winning prototype. With METAL becoming an institution in the design industry, FRAME is sure to elicit a range of inspiring and innovative responses from South Africa's design fraternity.

Entry forms for METAL 2008 are available at Carrol Boyes stockists country wide. To download an entry form, go to click here . To have an entry form faxed to you, phone 021 462 3129.