International companies show understanding of huaren market through special design features; in China, smart technology products dominate; and in Taiwan, consumers covet a creative lifestyle
TAIPEI --(ASIA TODAY)-- In 2016, the Golden Pin Design Award received a record 3,005 entries from 13 countries and regions, with the most products and projects coming from China, followed closely by Taiwan. New countries with design works represented in the competition include Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the UK while there was continued strong representation from countries and regions with large huaren (Chinese-speaking) populations, including Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The Taiwan-based 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 huaren communities. Since 2014, the three-decades-old award has increased its entries and participating countries and regions, hitting new records each year, and has expanded the Golden Pin Award Group to include the Golden Pin Concept Design Award and the Young Pin Design Award.
Products and projects submitted by companies based outside of China and Taiwan in 2016 showed an enthusiasm to enter the huaren market, and are making a clear attempt to tailor their products and projects to appeal to huaren consumers. The shape of the teak Butterfly Daybed by Thailand company DEESAWAT is inspired by the wings of a butterfly, which in Chinese culture is symbolic of loving union. The beautifully off-kilter Kisen Cup Awa set by Kisen by Yotsukawa Seisakusho Ltd of Japan was a winner in Taiwan’s 2016 Cultural & Creative Award, proving the design’s appeal in a Chinese-speaking market. Ancient Chinese culture is highlighted in a new permanent exhibition at the National Folk Museum of Korea. The design of “Deified Guan Yu and Painting on the Romance of the Three Kingdoms” focused on creating a minimalist space that allows the audience to immerse themselves in the magnificent narrative of the painting.
Designers from countries and areas that are home to significant huaren populations also proved their prowess in catering to the needs of those communities. L.E.A.D is a Chinese and English language board game by Malaysian letterpress company, The Alphabet Press, that attempts to renew passion for the dying craft of letterpress printing in a multicultural community. Big Lazy Chop by Singaporean studio Three Collective Pte Ltd is a logo identity for a local Chinese bistro. The design is inspired by the customisable sauce options the restaurant offers to its diners. In Macau, twenty artists were invited to share their views on local society in “Who Cares: Macau Social Issues Art Exhibition”–the poster for the show, designed by Untitled Lab, was entered into the Golden Pin Design Award this year. From Hong Kong comes the ZCB Bamboo Pavilion–designed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, School of Architecture, for the region’s Construction Industry Council. The four-storey-high public Zero Carbon Building is made of a bending-active bamboo gridshell structure.
Innovative smart living and smart technology products dominated entries from China. The aesthetically pleasing and surprisingly diminutive RoboMing Fellow–a home assistant robot designed by LKK (Shanghai) Integrated Design Co. Ltd–uses built-in sensors to map a house, ensuring it avoids obstacles when carrying items from place to place. The design team at ZCO Design Co. Ltd drew inspiration from the geographical systems of China’s picturesque snowcapped peaks and crystal clear alpine lakes for their water purifying Household Net Kettle. The sleek, light design of Beijing GEWUER Industrial Design Co. Ltd’s GEWUER VR Glasses turns the notion that virtual reality googles are clunky and awkward on its head.
Among the entries from Taiwan, it was clear that the current focus of many of the island’s studios is on sophisticated creative and culturally inspired lifestyle design. The widely celebrated leather and steel chair, Ming's Heart, by CJ STUDIO, melds Confucianist ideals and ancient Chinese furniture construction with Western geometric Cubism. TWO+ LAB’s Original Collection, created under their fashion accessories brand, Black Tailors, is a collection of clutches, wallets, and cellphone pouches made from recycled and ground up stone offcuts, a waste byproduct of the local marble industry. Taiwanese dance company Cloud Gate, which was the first contemporary dance company to be established in the greater Chinese-speaking community, celebrate the opening of a new studio that replaces an earlier space destroyed in a fire in 2008. Situated in Tamsui in Taipei City, the facility, which features a theater, a studio, and various offices and workshops, is nestled into a converted military base.
Entries to the Golden Pin Design Award are accepted in four categories: Product Design, Visual Communication Design, Packaging Design, and Spatial Design. Entered products and projects are assessed in three stages by an expert panel of international judges. Entrants who pass the second selection will receive a coveted Golden Pin Design Award Mark–an indicator of innovation that they can use to market their product or design project. Just a small portion of these Golden Pin Design Award Mark recipients will receive a Best Design trophy in a grand award ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan in December.
The Golden Pin Design Award is executed by the Taiwan Design Center and organized by the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs acts in an advisory capacity.
Award Timeline
The below dates may be subject to change.
Preliminary selection: mid-July 2016
Secondary selection: mid-September 2016
Final selection: late September 2016
Award ceremony: December 2016
More Information
For the latest news on the Golden Pin Design Award, visit:
Official Website: http://www.goldenpin.org.tw/en/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goldenpinconcept
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenpindesign
Weibo: http://www.weibo.com/p/1006065181797743/home?from=page_100606&mod=TAB#place
WeChat: 金點設計獎
For more insight into what it means to the design for the huaren market, visit: http://designperspectives.org/.
Kate Nicholson
International Media Liaison, DDG
kate.nicholson@ddg.com.tw
+886 2 23117007 x 402
Entrant Enquiries
Janice Cheng
Golden Pin Design Award Team
janice_cheng@tdc.org.tw
+886 2 2745 8199 x 335
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