Second Selection jury note high quality packaging and graphic design projects and proliferation of products addressing social issues from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Germany
A flexible fabric planting system called Fabric Garden from the Taiwan Textile Research Institute and TWO+ LAB in Taiwan; a bilingual typeface called HYBoJingTi that is influenced by the designer’s experiences in both China and Germany; an explorative exhibition of Asia Pacific’s most creative cities called CREA-TIVE©ITIES by Singapore firm BLACK PTE LTD for the Kaohsiung City Government; and Wind Eaves, famed Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s first “negative architecture” work in Taiwan all feature among the 565 Design Mark recipients named in the 2015 edition of the Golden Pin Design Award.
The Golden Pin Design Award 2015 Design Mark recipients were official announced in four award catego-ries–product, visual communications, packaging, and spatial design–in Taipei on Thursday, September 24, 2015, at the close of the fourth and final leg of the award’s Taiwan and China-based Secondary Selection period. Winners come from seven countries and areas in Asia and Europe. The majority of winning products and projects come from Taiwan (49%) and China (46%), with entries from Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, and Germany rounding up the winning group.
Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award is the world’s only design competition that seeks to recognize innovative products and projects that cater to the expectations, desires, and needs of huaren (Chinese-speaking) con-sumers. In 2015, Design Mark winning products and projects are all related in some way, whether directly or indirectly, to huaren communities around the world, which is a key criteria in the judging of the award. All Golden Pin Design Award 2015 Design Mark winners have the chance to receive one of the 15 to 20 Best Design trophies up for grabs in 2015. Judging for the Best Design recipients will take place on October 5 in Taipei, and winners will be announced in a lavish award ceremony in Taipei in early December this year.
Other highly innovative products and projects that receive a coveted Golden Pin Design Mark in 2015 in-clude the BESV CF1 e-bike by Darfon Electronics Corp. in Taiwan; the Mèmo Robotek Inc, an automated in-home recording system by Beijing SUNGO Industrial Design Co. Ltd; Aranya Seashore Public Library by Tianxingjiuzhou Real Estate Development Co. Ltd and Vector Architects, which is the world’s only public library built right on the sand; and 100years journey, the trailer for the Google Trekker guide to the Hong Kong Museum of Medical Science by Hong Kong-based designers Beatrix Chow and Vincent Fu, and Vi-sion Desire Limited.
Numerous big-name companies in the Asia region also took home Design Marks this year. ASUS in Taiwan won with its ZenWatch2, among multiple other Design Mark wins. Also from Taiwan, President Chain Store won a Design Mark for their 7-ELEVEN Gift Card Design by Sparkly Identity Design, as did Orientea Enter-prise Co. Ltd with a gift set designed by Victor Branding Design Corp. for the 51st Golden Horse Film Fes-tival. The identity design for RAW, the latest restaurant by world-renowned Taiwanese Chef Andre Chiang, also took home a Design Mark. The project was submitted by CT Print Company LTD and design by Page Tsou for Auspicious. From China, the Haier Flagship Store, submitted by Haier Group and designed by Dongdao Creative Branding Group, and from Singapore, the visual identity for the celebrated John Mead Dance Company, designed by Roots, also received Design Marks.
Speaking after the Secondary Selection round in Taipei, jury members noted a number of distinct trends among this year’s shortlisted participants. “This year, entries into the packaging and visual communication design categories have improved in terms of both quantity and quality. In past years, some designs lacked a certain amount of creativity, but in 2015, it’s clear that designers are thinking a lot more about the needs of consumers from a market perspective, and there’s also more variety in terms of the materials used,” said jury member Taddy Ho, Director, Operating Committee, BBDO Taiwan Advertising Co. Ltd and Visiting Pro-fessor, Department of Visual Communication Design, National Taiwan University of Arts (NTUA).
Apex Pang-Soong Lin, Honorary Director of the Taiwan Cultural and Creative Industry Association, who was chair of the Secondary Selection jury in Taipei and also a member of the China-based jury, echoed Ho’s observations regarding entries into the packaging design and visual communication design categories. He also noted that “there are some excellent examples of large machinery design among the entries from Chi-na,” which he says is a direct reflection of the current economic and industrial situation in the country, and that “entries from Taiwan show a highly sophisticated sense of detail, particularly in the packaging for local agricultural products.”
All jury members commented on the proliferation of products addressing social issues related to minorities, the elderly, and infants and children. An example universally praised by the Taipei jury was the Infant Train-ing Toothbrush by Taiwan-based Naforye International Co. Ltd. As Taddy Ho noted, “designers should delve deeper into these under-explored fields” in order to chart a new territory for design for huaren communities. Hugh Hu, General Manager of ndd design in Taiwan, and a member of the Secondary Selection jury in Tai-pei, spoke of a high level of originality in the contemporary craft products from Taiwan, as well as Taiwan-ese products designed for personal consumption, such as bicycles, glasses, and homewares.
Between July and August 2015, the Golden Pin Design Award wrapped up both its online preliminary selec-tion and a series of secondary selection legs in China and Taiwan, and the Golden Pin Design Award 2015 Design Mark winners, all of whom are eligible to be named Best Design award winners, were announced on September 24. Final Selection judging, in which the Best Design winners will be selected, will take place in Taipei on October 5, 2015. Best Design winners, along with winners of the Golden Pin Design Award’s sister award, the Golden Pin Concept Design Award, will be announced in an award ceremony held in Taipei in early December.
New to the award this year is the Golden Pin Buyers Award, a Special Award aimed at honoring products that have a strong chance of success in the Taiwan market. In two rounds, one held on October 6, 2015, and the other from October 27-29, a panel of professional buyers from leading retailers in Taiwan will select the winners of this Special Award from among the Golden Pin Design Award 2015 Design Mark recipients. The winning products will be available for sale in a pop-up shop held in collaboration with SOGO department stores from December 1 this year.
About the Golden Pin Design Award
The Golden Pin Design Award is an annual award, administered by the Taiwan Design Center in Taipei, that seeks to recognize innovative products and projects that cater to the expectations, desires, and needs of huaren (Chinese-speaking) consumers. The Award welcomes entries from individuals and corporations any-where in the world that are selling, manufacturing, or designing products for or in Chinese-speaking (huaren) communities. The award, now in its 34th year, accepts product design, visual communication, packaging, and spatial design works. Entered products and projects are assessed in three stages by an expert interna-tional jury. Second stage winners receive a Golden Pin Design Mark. Of these winners, just 15 to 20 receive a Best Design Award.
For the latest news on the Golden Pin Design Award, visit:
Official Website: http://www.goldenpin.org.tw
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GoldenPinDesign
Weibo: http://www.weibo.com/p/1006065181797743/home?from=page_100606&mod=TAB#place
For more insight into huaren design, visit: http://designperspectives.org.
Images and Project Information
All images courtesy of the Taiwan Design Center.
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