Today marks the opening of The Golden Time Market–a temporary shop in SOGO Fuxing Store exclu-sively selling products by Taiwanese brands–and the announcement of the winner of the 2015 Golden Pin Buyers Award
The holiday season is upon us, and locals and expatriates alike in Taiwan are hunting for that special gift to send home to loved ones or give to friends and family in-country. And what better to give in 2015 than homewares, food, or other products confidently designed and beautifully crafted right here in Taiwan?
Today, December 1, 2015, at 11AM, the Golden Pin Design Award, Taiwan’s premier award celebrating de-sign innovation for and within huaren (Chinese-speaking) communities; the award’s executor, the Taiwan De-sign Center; and Pacific SOGO Department Stores joined forces for the very first time to officially open The Golden Time Market. On for the holiday season, this proudly “Made In Taiwan” pop-up shop spreads out across a huge 40 ping (140 square meters) on the 9th floor of SOGO’s Fuxing Store in Taipei and includes products from 13 Golden Pin Design Award-winning brands and 16 other local brands, all of which are spe-cialists in homewares, food, and gifts. The temporary store will be open to the public until Wednesday, De-cember 9, 2015.
The event, which was curated by Grace Wang, one of four partners in the ever-expanding VVG Lifestyle Vil-lage and the trend-setting hospitality, retail, and food-and-beverage group’s manager, takes the concept of “bringing design to life,” or ensuring Taiwan’s consumers have access to high quality, innovative, beautiful, and perhaps most importantly, local design products. Selected products by Taiwanese brands that have taken home a Golden Pin Design Award “Design Mark” either this year or in the past will sell selected prod-ucts, including: TresAsia, Finding Cheska, Dipper, KIMU x NONZERO, iThinking, Desk+1, Shan, Woo Col-lective, PLEASANT, XITIAN MI, and Pick & Share, VVG Lifestyle Village, and Design Pin.
Also in today’s press conference, important guest attendee Jaclyn Tsai–Minister without Portfolio and Minis-ter, Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission, Executive Yuan–named Delta Electronics Inc. the winner of the 2015 Buyers Award, one of two inaugural Special Awards of the Golden Pin Design Award, for their Pocket LED Projector. The projector is now exhibiting at The Golden Time Market, and the company will be presented with a trophy at the Golden Pin Design Award 2015 Ceremony in Taipei on December 10. Other important guests in attendance at the press conference today included Jang-Hwa Leu, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Economic Affairs, and Sophia C. W. Huang, Chairman, Pacific SOGO Department Stores Company, Limited.
Jaclyn Tsai thanked SOGO chairman Sophia Huang for providing the platform, adding that she was happy to see such successful cooperation between business and young designers. “We hope the Golden Pin De-sign Award can becomeTaiwan’s next international award after the Golden Bell and Golden Melody awards,” Tsai said. “We should do our best to help Taiwan’s culture and creative industry make an impact on the global stage.”
Jang-Hwa Leu in turn thanked Jaclyn Tsai for her efforts in helping to elevate the Golden Pin Design Award to Executive Yuan level, from its previous level at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as well as globalize the award. “The Golden Pin winning products available at the pop-up shop are definitely wonderful gifts for for-eign friends, and offer great value for reasonable prices. As we go through a period of restructuring in Tai-wan, creative and cultural industry are playing an increasing important role.”
Sophia Huang said the Golden Pin Design Award is a landmark annual event in huaren design, and this year also saw the launch of the Golden Pin Buyers Award. She extended special thanks to the Retailers Associa-tion of Chinese Taipei, who gave fantastic support, and put forward three chief operating officers from lead-ing department store chains in Taiwan as judges. “Our products can hold their own in international markets, and the purpose of the event today is to allow these great design products to enter and improve people’s lives. I believe the Golden Pin Award can become a gold standard on the global stage.
The 2015 Buyers Award seeks to determine which of the Golden Pin Design Award “Design Mark” winning products are most attractive for Taiwanese consumers today. The judging panel was chaired by James Wangkuo, President of Pacific SOGO Department Stores Co., Ltd, and Jury Members included Thomas Tai, Mall General Manager of Taipei 101, and Lin, Chang-Li, COO of Far Eastern Department Stores Ltd.
“In recent years, there has been an over-abundance of technology products in the market. In this situation, how can companies encourage consumers to buy new models?” SOGO President and Jury Chair, James Wangkuo posed. “Of course, the product itself needs to be highly innovative, but designers also need to consider cost performance ratio and customization. There are numerous reasons why this projector was de-serving of its win: the product is stylish, compact, great for both giving as a gift and using yourself; can appeal to a wide range of consumers from many backgrounds; and, with its good looks, lifts the consumer perception of any store it features in.”
The Golden Pin Design Award repositioned itself in early 2014 to celebrate product, packaging, spatial, and visual communication design works already on the market that were created for and within the huaren (Chi-nese-speaking) communities. In 2015, the three-decades-old award attracted a record-setting 2,360 entries from 10 countries around the world, and expanded the Golden Pin Award Group to include the Golden Pin Concept Design Award, the Young Pin Design Award, and two Special Awards.
The competition is now preparing to name its Best Design and Special Award winners in a lavish ceremony held on December 10, 2015, at the Eslite Spectrum Performance Hall in Taipei, Taiwan. The Golden Pin De-sign Award 2015 Forum will also be held on the same day and in the same venue, and an exhibition of 2015 Golden Pin Design Award winning products and projects will open at the Taiwan Design Museum.
The Golden Pin Award group is executed by the Taiwan Design Center and organised by the Industrial Devel-opment Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs.
For the latest news on the Golden Pin Design Award and related events, 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
WeChat:
For more insights into huaren design (design created for and within Chinese-speaking communities), visit Perspectives: http://designperspectives.org.
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clara.tsao@ddg.com.tw
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