It’s not something anyone thinks about too often. When you win a prize at a gala day or a trophy of achievement for anything, did it ever occur to you that someone may have designed it just to celebrate your win?
There is such a someone and she has made it her life’s work to design trophies that make people happy and reflect their achievements. Because a trophy is like sculpture and it pairs neatly with moments of joy. Natasha Bell creates and makes them. And she loves the beaming smiles of people who are awarded what she created.
She sometimes sneaks into prize givings just to see how people respond to the moment, she said. “You must want to show it off,” she said. “I’m very artsy. I love to paint, I love plants, I’m a creative person,” she said.
Trophies, for her, are a practical outlet for that creativity. Instead of disposable prizes, she wants to create objects that feel like art pieces people want to keep and display.
She sneaks into prize givings
At 29, going on 30, Bell has already spent close to eight years in the trophy industry, but 2026 marks a reset for her. She went out on her own because she was frustrated at boundaries that were set by her previous employers.
She sought out, and found business partners, got the gear, and got to work. “They understood the vision and they just let me do it,” she said. “Now I’m just trying to chase the dream.”
That dream, she explained, is simple in concept but broad in scope: creating trophies for anyone with imagination. From corporates to schools and sporting events, she believes awards do not have to be generic gold cups that end up forgotten in cupboards.
The decision to start fresh was not without a sense of trepidation. “Making sure I can pay my bills was a big thing,” she said. “Chasing your dream is a very scary change, especially when you’re financially dependent on yourself, but you kind of have to go for it.”
You just have to ‘go for it’
Last month she landed her first major order, well over 100 trophies for a large bank.
Creating a trophy is more complicated than what you might expect. Bell’s a proponent for rethinking what a trophy looks like. For motorsport events where, she said, designs could incorporate layered car silhouettes or abstract elements or for other prize giving instances or events could incorporate animals, shapes or symbolic forms; it could replace the standard cup everyone expects.
“It’s about changing the way you think of trophies in an artsy way,” she said.
It’s quite technical, really. Bell handles design, then creates technical drawings for cutting, then works with different finishes such as powder coating or electroplating. Carpenters build bases, perspex plates are printed and the final pieces are then assembled by hand. It takes time.
She works with a single assistant and together they get their hands dirty throughout the entire process, until packing the boxes and making them ready for delivery. It’s a tough job, especially when you are quadrupling up as salesperson, too.
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From start to finish, he’s hands on
Outside the workshop, the Benoni native changes gears. She spends time with her border collie, her constant companion and goes running and fishing, and paints when she can.
She is openly emotional, and definitely a tomboy, she added, and that emotional streak feeds into her work.
This is probably why one of her big ambitions is to design trophies for major sporting events, top tier events, she said, like Formula 1 racing. Â
“That would be the top goal,” she said. But, she added, the measure of success is not only in orders or business growth. It is in the small, personal connection between effort and recognition.
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