The windows of DESIGN PIN, a popular design store located in the historic Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei, have been obscured by black cloth since just after Chinese New Year this year. Read on to find out why…
As announced in a press conference and store reveal held in Taipei yesterday morning, the concept store, which is dedicated to showcasing award-winning or innovative design products from Taiwan and Japan, has undergone a total transformation in recent months. In late 2014, Japanese buyer and design industry expert, Yu Yamada, who founded his famed retail consultancy, Method Inc., in Tokyo more than a decade ago, was invited by Taiwan Design Center CEO, Wenlong Chen, to work as a consultant on the DESIGN PIN redesign project.
Fascinated by the history of the building in which DESIGN PIN is located–a huge, now-renovated factory that was built by the Japanese at the turn of the 20th century to process liquor and tobacco–, Mr. Yamada wanted to find a way to connect the historical use of the space to DESIGN PIN’s new concept and purpose. The rooms that DESIGN PIN occupy were once used to store tobacco, so Mr Yamada chose industrial-style steel warehouse units for the shelving. “The shelves are very industrial. They're just like the ones used in a warehouse or in a storage room. The store's name originated from the Golden Pin Design Award, so that’s why I decided to paint [the shelves] gold. The shelves carry the concept of the store,” he says. Mr Yamada also chose to leave the huge steel supporting structures exposed.
The logo and branding materials for the store were redesigned, and Mr Yamada also overhauled the buying criteria for the store and the categorisation of the products in terms of store layout. Visitors to DESIGN PIN can now shop in confidence knowing that they are perusing only either Golden Pin Design Award- or Good Design Award-winning products, or innovative design products created locally by established and emerging Taiwanese designers. In stock right now are products from Just Mobile, LUCKYRICE, urban prefer, TALES, Xcellent Lighting, Afterain Design, Carpenter, hesxhers group, Sitpls, studio if, Kenyon Yeh, haoshi design, DHH studio, and KIMU Design, among other brands. In an ode to the store’s “patron”, the Golden Pin Design Award, a small room at the back of DESIGN PIN is dedicated to products inspired by huaren culture.
The DESIGN PIN renovation was Mr Yamada’s first project in Taiwan, and he hopes the experience will lead to more overseas projects for his company, Method Inc. “If I want to learn how to work in foreign countries, I think working with, for example, a company in Taiwan, is much easier [than trying to get work in Europe or America] because Taiwan is so close to Japan," Mr Yamada explains. For Japanese designers, buyers, and manufacturers, Taiwan could be something like a training ground for working in the world, he says.
For media enquiries, please contact Kate Nicholson, International Media Liaison, DDG, on +886 2 2772 5850 x 180, orkate.nicholson@ddg.com.tw.
Visit DESIGN PIN
Address: Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, No. 133, Guangfu S. Road, Xinyi District, Taipei City 110, Taiwan (map attached - Chinese-language only)
Opening Times: Monday to Sunday, 9.30am to 5.30pm
Phone: 02 2745 8199 x 279
About Yu Yamada
Yu Yamada hails from Tokyo, Japan and was the buyer for IDEE SHOP in Aoyama. After this experience, he decided to become became an independent buyer and creative director, and founded Method Inc. ( http://wearemethod.com/ ). Through the company, he works as a consultant for many different leading retail companies in Japan. He has also dedicated his career to elevating the awareness of good design in Japan; he is a director of Eleven Design Studio, the company behind Design Tide Tokyo.
About the Golden Pin Design Award
In 2014, for the first time in its 34-year history, the Golden Pin Design Award opened its doors to companies designing products and projects in and forhuaren (Chinese-speaking) markets. In June 2014, a record number of entries were received from across the world in four award categories: Product Design, Visual Communication Design, Packaging Design, and Interior Design. Golden Pin Design Award “Best Design” winners, who were selected from over 400 finalists, were announced in an award ceremony held in Taipei, Taiwan in December.
In March 2015, the Golden Pin Design Award opened its 2015 call for entries period. Individuals and companies can submit their huaren-inspired design products and projects until June 30, 2015. Visit the website for more information: www.goldenpin.org.tw.
