Finalists ranged from a ceramic tool that is being used to help a critically endangered Tasmanian fish, the spotted handfish, to a new design for a reusable straw.

Scottsdale's Isaac Williams entered an innovative furniture design that reuses the frame of thrown-out upholstery chairs destined for landfill, topped with a freshly-made seat of cork.

"I wanted to give discarded items a new life and that's how I landed on the idea," he said.

"I added the cork to make it functional and appealing, and extend the frame's life by as much as possible.

"It was fairly experimental because I've never worked with cork before, so it was all new - but I'm stoked with the result."

Also in the furniture section, Ray Brien's table was first designed at the request of the Breast Cancer Network, who wanted a friendlier trolley for its wig collection than the clinical one it was using.

He made a trolley of Hydrowood timber - salvaged from flooded forests covered by man-made Lake Pieman at the West Coast.

But the work he created was judged too nice for everyday use and mostly sits to be admired, he said.

"They do use it occasionally for their high teas," Mr Brien laughed.

Lisa Britzman spent six months refining the process for her porcelain 'everyday cup', experimenting with a design that can be produced using low amounts of energy.

"I live on a farm and we have limited electricity, and I'm also trying to be more energy conscious," she said.

"I did a lot of clay testing first - I tested 13 different clay bodies - and then I did three or four months of glaze testing.

"I wanted something durable to carry out to the field, be durable, have hot and cold drinks in it - and be easy to use and nice to hold."

The Design Tasmania Awards have been running since 2006, and previous winners have gone on to sell their entries through the Museum of Modern Art and housewares and kitchen utensil company Alessi, communications manager Clementine Blackman said.

"It's a really great launchpad for designers to get their work out there, because the world is watching," she said.

"The design in Tasmania is some of the best in Australia, if not the world. To see the work that's being done across so many different genres of expertise is outstanding."

Categories are visual communication, jewellery, furniture, object, and fashion and textiles.

There are 50 finalists, the highest number ever reflecting the higher number of overall entries this year.