Red Dot Award: Product Design 2020 Winners announced! Check out the Best of Best designs here!

Posted on 03/07/2020 by Sarang Sheth

Along with the Summer Solstice, International Music Day, International Yoga Day, and Father’s Day, the design community has one more reason to look forward to the present. It’s also time to reveal the winners of the Red Dot Product Design Awards for the year 2020! The Red Dot Design Awards are considered one of the preeminent award programs in the design field. Being hosted since 1955, the Red Dot has become one of the most sought-after symbols of great design and innovation. Now in its 65th year, we look at some of the ‘Best of Best’ winners of the 2020 Red Dot Awards: Product Design, right from the home of the award in Essen, Germany!

Click Here to See 2020 Winners

YD Handpicks: Best of Best Winners – Red Dot Product Design Award 2020

01. AirPods Pro by Apple

The AirPods were ground-breaking for making truly-wireless earbuds the status quo. Now, with the AirPods Pro, Apple hopes to upgrade its wireless technology to provide better, clearer, and more advanced audio to its listeners. The AirPods Pro take the features of the AirPods and introduce it to better drivers, active noise cancellation, adaptive EQ, and a new design that fits better in the ear, thanks to silicone tips.

02. Aquno Select M81 by Hansgrohe

The Aquno Select M81’s purpose, apart from elevating the kitchen’s style, is to also provide unparalleled functionality when it comes to using water to wash utensils. Not only does it feature a slick pull-out spray on the top, it even comes with an array of horizontally positioned sprays that help focus water in a way that rinses food off plates easily without splashing water in every direction (or on you).

03. Touchswitch by Niko nv

Have you ever walked up to a switchboard and spent a good 5 minutes trying out every switch to see which one controls what appliance? Well, that indecisiveness is what the Touchswitch hopes to tackle, with its smart touch-enabled display interface. The touchscreen becomes a fresh, more informative interface that overhauls the rudimentary switchboard. Not only can it display information, it uses intuitive elements, colors, and visuals to help you understand what you’re doing too. Besides, rather than just switching things on or off, you can now tap, slide, and turn elements. Now who wouldn’t love that?!

04. 1919 Globetimer UTC by Porsche Design

“If you analyze the function of an object, its form often becomes obvious,” was the credo of Ferdinand Alexander Porsche and the starting point of many of his designs. The 1919 Globetimer sports the appearance of an elegant wristwatch, albeit with a slight difference. Built into its side are two buttons that allow you to easily and conveniently switch time-zones, cycling through all zones across the world.

05. MotoRAZR 2019 by Motorola

The 2019 MotoRAZR easily remains one of my favorite designs of all-time, so the fact that it’s deserving of a Red Dot Award feels pleasantly validating! The phone, which debuted in 2019, reimagined a classic, bringing a new, cutting edge flexible display to the incredibly sleek iconic design from the 2000s. It’s every bit a RAZR, and also every bit an incredibly capable smartphone. What more could one really want?!

06. Sema Whirling by Hefei LCFC Information Technology

The Sema Whirling is to barcode scanners what the Rolls-Royce is to automobiles. Absolutely captivating, convention-challenging, and just a reinterpretation of designs that we usually take for granted, the Sema Whirling is a barcode/QR-code scanner that looks like a million bucks! It retains the ability to be gripped and pointed at objects, but ditches the weird gun-shaped design for something that looks more like a luxurious bottle of perfume!

07. Mabot by Shenzhen Bell Creative Science and Education

Learning is a complex process that is always centred on and guided by individual interests. Children learn much easier and faster when they encounter something that piques their curiosity by challenging them. Mabot is an educational robot that was developed to present children with a challenge and the ability to build the toy they want. As fundamental as LEGO blocks, but equipped with motors, sensors, and electronic parts, Mabot equips kids with the ability to plug modules together to build their own robot and define the distinctive functions of their tech-wonder!

08. ThinkPad X1 Fold by Lenovo

The ThinkPad X1 Fold is perhaps the best use-case of a flexible display. Designed to make tablets as accessible and portable as notebooks, the X1 Fold gives you a device with a 7.2″ screen, but in a footprint that’s small enough to fit in your palm as you dash from your cabin to the presentation room. The ThinkPad X1 Fold, true to its name, also comes with a nifty stylus that lets you articulate your thoughts, note down points, and capture graphs, minutes of meetings, and slip in a doodle or two between long meetings too! Besides, its folding screen format and bookish design make it perhaps the best e-reader ever!

09. CleanAIR® UniMask by MALINA

The CleanAIR® UniMask comes at an absolutely opportune time. Designed for use around industries with exposure to gases like aerosols, the CleanAIR® UniMask is a mask with a full-face visor that creates a seal around your entire face with a soft cushion that enables you to wear it for prolonged hours. UniMask weighs in at just 380 grams and offers good optical and mechanical features that make for an extraordinarily light face shield with high functionality. The inner airflow regulation enables users to adjust the direction and intensity of the air to be delivered and direct it either to the face or directly into the breathing zone. The visor possesses high mechanical resistance and a special anti-fog coating that prevents fogging and delivers a clear and undisturbed view at all times.

10. Ferrari SF90 Stradale by Ferrari S.p.A.

Ending this countdown on a high note, the Ferrari SF90 Stradale reinterprets the well-known sporting proportions of the Berlinetta model with its mid-rear-located engine the SF90 Stradale, and is the first PHEV model (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle) manufactured by Ferrari in series. The use of a pioneering technology based on a combination of a combustion engine and three electric motors also represents a step into a new stylistic direction, while always staying true to Ferrari’s design DNA and rich automotive heritage.

Click Here to See 2020 Winners

The FEND One bicycle helmet folds inwards to make it more portable

Posted on 10/02/2020 by Sarang Sheth

An improvement over its initial design (and a subsequent winner of the Red Dot Design Award), the FEND One makes protective gear portable. Discarding the notion that a helmet needs to be a sturdy, stiff, singular form, the FEND One is, in fact, foldable. With two segments on either side that fold inwards, the Fend becomes rather portable, occupying a fraction of the volume it would when opened. Its folded design makes it relatively flat, allowing it to slide easily into messenger bags and backpacks… a feature that makes carrying helmets so convenient, you’re more likely to wear/carry them everywhere.

The FEND One reduces the number of moving parts in its original design by ditching the bellow-style fold for something more simple and secure. The helmet exceeds US CPSC and European EN1078 safety standards for bicycles, skateboards, and e-bikes/scooters under 20mph, and comes with an impact-resistant outer shell made from ABS and PC, and a cushioning EPS inner that’s both lightweight as well as shock-absorbing. The helmet opens and closes with a simple hinge-action, securing in place thanks to flaps on the upper part of the skull. There’s even a hard-hat-style dial at the back to adjust the tightness to ensure that you’ve got yourself a secure fit. All that while being able to fold down to half its original volume for better portability!

Designer: Christian Von Heifner (FEND)

Click Here to Buy Now

Designer: FEND

Cosmetic bottles that stack into each other for functionality as well as beauty

Posted on 17/10/2019 by Sarang Sheth

Place the Cubessence bottles on top of each other and they stack almost seamlessly. The trick is in the design of the bottle, that comes with an angular base, but a regular skirt around it. The bottle’s bases are placed at an angle to avoid the neck of the bottle below, but that doesn’t mean they sit at an angle when you place them on their own, because the side walls still extend downwards in a regular fashion. This allows each bottle to individually look slightly unique, but look beautiful together, as they vertically align, forming a totem-pole of sorts. This makes the Cubessence bottles both efficient to pack, as well as interesting to look at! A third benefit lies within this design too. The angled base reduces wastage. By making sure that one corner of the base is lower than the others, Cubessence makes sure the pipe within the bottle sits at this lowest corner, pumping out every ounce of the liquid to make sure the bottle is completely empty before you decide to dispose of it!

The Cubessence is a winner of the Red Dot Design Concept Award for the year 2019.

Designer: Luo Haozhen

YD Handpicks: Celebrating the Chinese New Year with 8 winning designs from China

Posted on 05/02/2019 by Sarang Sheth

chinese_new_year_red_dot_layout

With a little help from our friends at the Red Dot Design Awards, we’re kicking off the Chinese New Year with 8 award-winning designs from Chinese designers curated from the past year’s Red Dot Awards. Wishing all our readers a wonderful and bountiful ‘year of the pig’, from the YD family to yours.
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01. Segway Ninebot Gokart Kit by Bowen Cai, Yongjie Li, Ji Lin
Imagine if you could take your hoverboard, add two more tires and a steering wheel to it and fashion a go-kart for yourself. Why that’s what the Segway Ninebot is. Designed as an attachment to the $499 Segway Mini Pro, the Ninebot turns a last-mile commutation device into a fun, electric go-kart that can be driven around practically anywhere! The company claims that the Segway-Ninebot electric gokart can accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h) in under 2 seconds and can support riders of up to 220 lbs.

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02. Build-Fender by Chen Chi-Shan
The Build Fender is part architectural marvel, part massive eco-system. Inspired by how biological cells work together to clean and sustain a system, the Build Fender skyscraper imagines different ‘cell components’ in a building that have different functions and effects. When combined, they create a building that works around-the-clock like a living ecosystem that minimizes its impact on the environment and actively purifies the air that passes through it on a massive scale.

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03. Knitting Lounger by Liang Chen, Ma Qianli
Inspired by a type of Asian knitting handicraft that integrates aesthetics and functionality, the designers made full use of the merits of knitting and created this ergonomic outdoor furniture. The concept of knitting delivers a sense of interweaving and the ropes used for knitting are made from a water-proof material, requiring less maintenance and upkeep.

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04. Forseti Axe by Tony Chui Pak Ho
Designed as a modern take on the axe, the Forseti relooks the axe’s basic construction of a handle and a blade. The new design looks much more integrated, but what’s interesting is how the blade is designed as a plug-in-plug-out module that fits almost flush into the metal handle, creating an almost monolithic product that can always be repaired/maintained by simply switching blade-pieces by discarding the old blade and plugging in a new one!

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05. SHO by Pan Biwei
Practically a hallmark of simplicity and effectiveness, the Sho is made of literally two parts. A frame and a mattress. However, it can exist in three states. As a bed (with the mattress used as-is), as a comfortable chair, and as a reclining lounge chair. The SHO works well as instant furniture, be it in low-cost apartments, or at disaster relief sites. The metal framework is foldable, and when opened out, allows you to tuck the mattress into it, turning it either into a comfortable chair with a backrest, or into a lounging recline you can lean into. Independently, the mattress serves as a bed for one, allowing you to have three pieces of furniture that use just two simple objects.

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06. Fu-Chair by Wei-Chen Chang, Pei-Chun Hsueh, Po-Wei Tsai, Zhen-Ling You
Fu-Chair’s brilliance is in its duality. Designed as two chairs stacked upside down on each other, the Fu-Chair can either be used as one single chair with armrests (and a storage space for books below the seat) or as two separate stools. Ingenious, eh?!

基本 RGB

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07. Cloud Cooker Hood by Jin Ze, Ye Tian, Zhang Haonan, Zhu Lingjie
Inspired by traditional Chinese paper-cutting art, the Cloud Cooker Hood uses undulating sheets to form a hood that looks flat when closed, and turns into an organic chimney/hood when open, allowing fumes to exit the kitchen while also adding a touch of aesthetics to the decor of the room.

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08. Connect by Li Enxin, Miao Xinyi, Tao Zhixiang , Wang Fubing, Zhang Jing
Created for the kindergarten environment, the Connect is a fun table-setup that allows you to join or separate desks based on need. Connecting plates allow you to create different sort of patterns that immediately turn the kindergarten into a place of fun, allowing kids to experiment with forms and layouts, while also improving their dexterity and understanding of furniture and of puzzles. Having the Connect in any kindergarten will automatically make it a place of learning and a place of fun!

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This simple sticker gives your laptop an instant numpad!

Posted on 30/11/2018 by Sarang Sheth

NUMS is an absolutely stunning product (and a winner of the coveted Red Dot Award), purely for its simplicity and effectiveness. It recognizes a problem, and solves it in the most ingenious way possible, without extra moving parts, and without a learning curve. A simple transparent piece of plastic with adhesive at one end and no circuitry whatsoever, the NUMS just sits on your laptop, giving you the magic of a numpad (and much more) on your portable computing device.

In order for laptops to stay portable, they sacrifice the expendable elements like the Numpad. Given that the numbers already exist above the qwerty layout, a numpad to the right is expendable, and laptops either use that real estate to add speaker grills, or shave off the numpad to create thin 13″ laptops. The NUMS brings that expendable element back for everyone who craves having those buttons at their fingertips (from gamers to coders to accountants).

In principle, the NUMS is simple. A sticker sits on the laptop trackpad, quite like a phone’s screen guard. It doesn’t interfere with the trackpad’s functioning (in fact, it gives the pad a smooth, finger-loving texture), however, it augments the trackpad’s abilities. Printed on the sticker is a complete numpad, along with a few other buttons. Install the NUMS driver and the NUMS sticker converts your trackpad into a functioning numpad. Swipe down diagonally from the top right corner to toggle between trackpad mode and numpad mode. When in the numpad mode, the printed numbers on the NUMS sticker denote keys, and you trigger keystrokes by touching them (you’ve even got audio feedback for a wonderfully complete UX). You could use the numpad to work in accounting softwares or even in games. Swiping down diagonally from the top left triggers the calculator, allowing you to crunch numbers in an instant without taking those five annoying steps to boot the calculator app. The NUMS even has its own hotkey setting mode, allowing you to create shortcuts of your own, so your trackpad instantly goes from the least used feature (real people use mice, alright?) to perhaps the most feature-rich part of your laptop. Who thought a small plastic sticker and a powerful idea could accomplish so much?!

The NUMS is a winner of the Red Dot Best Of Best Award.

Designer: Gong HuaChao (GHC Design)

Click Here to Buy Now (Compatible with 15″ MacBook Pro 2016)

Click Here to Buy Now (Compatible with older MacBook Air and MacBook Pro 2012-2015)

Fancy Five

Posted on 14/08/2014 by Radhika Seth

Besides being a design competition that recognizes some of the amazing talents from across the globe, the Red Dot Awards is also a resource pool of new ideas and innovative products. Products that inspire us and designs that we can own. Here is a quick recap of five products that caught our fancy from the 2014 Red Dot Awards: Product Design.

NOIZY Kameleon is a cool earbud that features multipoint connectivity. It allows you to connect two Bluetooth devices (cell phone and laptop) at the same time to one headset. This allows switching from tablet/laptop to phone and back. What we like about it is the flexibility and convenience it offers.

The SUPAflat high chair merges quality, safety and ease of use with an attractive appearance that blends seamlessly into a contemporary home environment. What we like about it is its flatpack design approach.

AURA Breathalyzer is a fancy Alcohol Breath Tester that you can take along to your next night out in town. It’s a sensible way of keeping in check the amount of alcohol you have consumed. What we like about is its high-end styling and design.

Fiskars KitchenGarden is a Mini-Greenhouse for Herbs and is adorable fit in your home. What we like about it is its innovative approach to home gardening.

The super sensible Eat’n’Out is a clever and functional 2-in-1 Lunch Bag. We love it for the practicality it offers; it holds your lunch booty and spreads out as a blanket on the floor.

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(Fancy Five was originally posted on Yanko Design)

Top 20 Red Dot Awards: Product Design – Best of Best Winners for 2014

Posted on 10/07/2014 by Radhika Seth

We love compiling lists because they bring upon elements of reflection and contemplation. For example, to create this list of Top 20 Best of Best Winners for 2014 from the Red Dot Awards: Product Design list, we had to factor in the YD audience, our experience with Good Design and resonance of what YD stands for. In short, it has to be the perfect marriage between YD’s pick and audience expectations. To see if we are on the same page…browse through the list below and let us know.

Minta Touch Kitchen Tap by Grohe AG

The Minta Touch kitchen tap gives the user a magical experience. It integrates two types of operation: a manual mode and a highly sensitive electronic mode, whereby the water flow is activated with the back of the user’s hand or forearm.

Paper Silicon LED Table Lamp by Retang Electronic Co., Ltd.

The Paper Silicon LED table lamp is based on an innovative combination of silica gel, metal and other materials. Silica gel is waterproof, non-toxic and has good thermal conductivity. This lamp can be bent to any desired angle and is flexible.

Ora-ïto Table – Dining Table by Roche Bobois

The Ora-ïto table exudes the perception of a spinning top and looks like as if it were moving and spinning upon itself. The optical illusion of motion is complemented by the use of a mirror in the lower part of the table.

AURA Breathalyzer – Alcohol Breath Tester by Ho International Design Inc.

The Aura Breathalyzer alcohol breath tester is a new, stylish way for drivers to find out their current blood alcohol concentration (BAC) quickly. With this information readily available, drivers are less likely to endanger themselves and others. Inspired by glamorous fashion, the design of this alcohol breath tester turns it into an extremely stylish fashion accessory.

adidas miCoach SMART RUN – Running Smartwatch by adidas AG

The adidas miCoach Smart Run was developed to offer runners optimized possibilities for individual training and self-monitoring based on the latest technology.

Springfree Trampoline Medium Oval by Dr. Keith Alexander

The Springfree Medium Oval Trampoline features an innovative safety design that changes the traditional trampoline completely. With flexible fiberglass rods instead of metal springs and a frame that has been moved under the jumping surface out of harm’s way, it was designed to eliminate 90 per cent of product related injuries associated with traditional trampolines.

JURA Elektroapparate IMPRESSA F8 TFT – Fully Automatic Coffee Maker by Iseli Design und Partner

“Three things are necessary for a good cup of coffee: first of all coffee, second of all, coffee, and third, more coffee,” reads a simple definition by French playwright Alexandre Dumas. We need not say more!

Stokke Crusi Stroller by Hans-Cato Slotteroy, Hilde Angelfoss, Alf Vegard Fjelland, Anders August Kittilsen and Permafrost

Closeness was an important factor in the design of the Stokke Crusi, thus the baby carrier pod or seat of the stroller is placed in a high position. The carrier has been ergonomically well thought out and is of generous proportions so that it offers enough space even for bigger babies.

Philips DesignLine LED TV

Through the innovative use of full-glass integration in its screen, the Philips DesignLine LED TV allows viewers to see and experience television images in a completely new way.

nemus CAJALUN Bicycle by LignoTUBE technologies GmbH & Co. KG and Robert Taranczewski

The design of the nemus Cajalun opted for a frame made of wood, a material that is rather unusual in the field of bicycle construction. The frame is produced in a large part from thin veneer layers of real wood, lending it a highly natural and organic appearance: the visible wood texture underlines this.

LG G Flex Smartphone by Hongsik Kim, Donghwan Lee, Hyunjin Yoon & Jeeyoung Yeon

The concept of the G Flex interprets and redefines the smartphone as a medium of communication that adapts to its user. Promoting a fascinatingly innovative curved shape, it leaves the conventional flat shape of phone design behind. The phone integrates curved elements in order to match the facial contours of its user. This eliminates annoying environmental noise during calls.

Hansgrohe Axor Showerpipe by Front

The design of the Axor Showerpipe by Front aims to draw attention to the hidden aesthetics and is a collection of pipes, valves and funnels that turn into charming design objects which relate to traditional forms. The clear form of the showerhead takes a funnel as its model.

A-Chair – Stacking Chair by Brunner and jehs+laub

Public events would be considerably more complicated if it weren’t for the stacking chair. The A-Chair is the expression of an entirely new appreciation of the form and functionality of the stacking chair. The chair is crafted using an innovative glass-fibre reinforced plastic, which gives it its sturdy body and the frame high stability. Available either as a plastic chair or with an aluminum frame combined with a wooden seat, the A-Chair always has a harmonious appearance.

Phiaton Bridge Headphones by TEAGUE (Youjin Nam, Tad Toulis, Clement Gallois, John Mabry, Benoit Collette, Devin Liddell, Roger Jackson & Ashley Newcomer)

The design of the Phiaton Bridge headphones blends innovative use of form with advanced sound quality. These headphones have a unique look and are made of premium materials such as high-quality, perforated leather and machined aluminum. Cables covered in a signal red fabric provide an eye-catching contrast.

Fissler Bionic Permanently Sharp Knife by via 4 Design GmbH

The Fissler bionic is a completely hand-made knife for versatile use in the kitchen. It has been modeled on the structure of a beaver tooth, which consists of two layers that are worn down at different rates.

Masterpiece Mystery Wristwatch by Maurice Lacroix

The Masterpiece Mystery features a strikingly skeletonized dial and is highlighted by its mysterious seconds indicator. Driven by a durable and reliable movement with a self-winding mechanism, this second hand marks out a linear reading in alternating horizontal and vertical cycles. The direction appears to change every 15 seconds. Users gain the impression of movement and is the result of an optical illusion caused by the blued or rhodium covered hand, which appears to rotate weightlessly on its own axis.

Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera – Compact Digital Cinema Camera

The Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera is designed specifically for shooting in remote locations and confined spaces that are common to documentaries and photojournalism. The magnesium alloy body is strong and durable.

Audi quattro Bar, St. Moritz 2013/2014 by SCHMIDHUBER and Atelier für Szenografie – Tim John

To coincide with the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup 2014, Audi is opening the Audi quattro Bar in the heart of the Swiss Corviglia ski region at a height of 2,486 meters.

ThinBike – Urban Bicycle by Schindelhauer Bikes (Jörg Schindelhauer & Stephan Zehren)

The ThinBike is well adapted to the contemporary lifestyle of self-reliant mobility. The bike folds together in a jiffy into a package that is easy to carry.

Fresh Air Kitchen Compost Collector by Full Circle

The Fresh Air compost collector convincingly conveys that composting can be easy and clean. The design tackles the issue of molestation by odors and flies often associated with indoor compost collectors by eliminating them through a patented system: the innovative combination of an airway and compostable bag system allows waste to decompose aerobically.

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