The 2019 Golden Pin Design Award announced its Design Mark recipient list today! This year, with a record high of 3,091 entries and 1,471 participants vying for the grand prize, 624 entries in total came out on top at the oversea (in August) and Taiwan (September 19th) secondary selection events; they were awarded the Design Mark and will be eligible for the Best of Golden Pin Design Award at the final selection in Taipei on September 23rd.
Fifteen renowned experts in design and market trends served as the jury for the secondary selection event in Taiwan this year. Jury members of the product design category include Yu-Fen Lo, creative director of Pinyen Creative Co., Ltd.; Cesare Sun, chief designer of GearLab Co., Ltd.; Wei-Lang Lee, Assistant Professor at National Taiwan University of Arts; Mitch Yang, Chief Design Officer of ASUSTek Computer Inc.; and Quake Hsu, co-founder of the crowdfunding website zeczec. Jury members of the communication design category include Chi-Mei Chang, creative director of Optima Integrated Design; Ke-Ping Gan, Design Director of Seedesign; Escher Tsai, creative director of Dimension Plus; Aaron Nieh, director of Aaron Nieh Wrokshop; and Andrew Wong, founder of Onion Design Associates. Jury members of the spatial design category include Jenny Lee, director of the Unicorn Reading Project; Alfie Shao, CEO of CHU-studio; and Chung-Han Tang, design director of Design Apartment, Co., Ltd. Jury members of the integration design category, aside from the aforementioned Quake Hsu, include Fines Lee, chief editor at Affairs Medium Ltd and Ping Chu, founder of the Ripplemaker Foundation.
▲ The jury for the secondary selection event in Taiwan this year.
Among the 624 winning entries from four categories, the product design division tops the list with 325 awardees. As a jury member for this category in both the oversea and Taiwan secondary selections, Yu-Fen Lo noted that the overall quality of the works has been on the rise, with an increasing number of works demonstrating sustainable thinking and a well-developed concept. In addition, educational works, which also saw an increase in number, were mostly delivered in the form of AI-powered products in Mainland China while being incorporated into educational toys in Taiwan, reflecting the differential industry trends in the Mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong markets. Mitch Yang, another member of the jury, mentioned that most submissions this year addressed practical needs, with the majority aiming to improve existing products. According to Yang, his top evaluation criterion lies in whether a product would benefit its target customers and improve their quality of life.
▲ The jury member of product design category, Mitch Yang, Chief Design Officer of ASUSTek Computer Inc.
▲ The jury member of product design category, Wei-Lang Lee, Assistant Professor at National Taiwan University of Arts.
172 entries in the communication design category were awarded the Mark. Jury member Aaron Nieh noted that one could often catch a glimpse from the entries of the tastes, the outlook, and the trends of the time. Nieh cites the striking visual vocabulary and distinct aesthetic logic as the key factors in improving product visibility. Another jury member Andrew Wong also expressed his amazement at the brilliant manipulation of paper textures and printing technology by the works in the communication design category in recent years.
▲ The jury member of communication design category, Aaron Nieh, director of Aaron Nieh Wrokshop.
▲ The jury member of communication design category, Escher Tsai, creative director of Dimension Plus.
For the spatial design category, 108 entries were awarded the Mark. Judge Chung-Han Tang commented on the maturity and integrity of the entries as well as their concepts and presentation, epitomizing the prestige of the Golden Pin Design Award. Judge Alfie Shao pointed out the increasingly ambiguous definition of a space in the fast-paced modern life. Whether a work could respond to the changing lifestyle and behavior of the society, in spirit and in form, was his priority when evaluating entries.
For the integration design category, 19 entries were awarded the Mark. Jury member Fines Lee observed that visual design and exhibition curation had grown more and more mature each year in Taiwan. He was most impressed by works that took root in the tradition but reinterpreted it with modern vocabulary, touching people’s heart and inspiring their imagination.
▲ The jury member of spatial design category, Jenny Lee, director of the Unicorn Reading Project.
▲ The jury member of integration design category, Fines Lee, chief editor at Affairs Medium Ltd.
The final selection of the 2019 Golden Pin Design Award will take place at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei on September 23rd, where a shortlist of the highest honor, the Golden Pin Design of the Year Award, will be compiled, to be released in early October. Who will be the winner? We shall see at the award ceremony on December 5th!
