At a star-studded ceremony this evening in Taipei’s Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, the Golden Pin Design Award announced 30 Best Design winners and 2 Special Annual Award winners for Circular Design and Social Design. The winning designers were invited on stage to accept the coveted Best Design trophy and deliver their acceptance speeches, conveying gratitude to the design community. The Golden Pin Concept Design Award also unveiled 3 Best Design winners, who not only receive the trophy, but also a combined cash prize of TWD$1.2 million (approximately USD$39,000) to help bring their concepts to life.
The Golden Pin Design Award 2019 Grand Ceremony gathered together the design community from Taiwan, Asia and beyond to celebrate the very best designs of the year, and to usher in new design trends for the future. Celebrating the dawn of an emerging trend in design for sustainability, this year’s award ceremony focused on the design industry’s role in implementing the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals under the theme “Gala @ 23:59”. The award ceremony’s creative director, Keng-Ming Liu (Founder and Creative Director of Bito) curated the entire event around this theme, from the key visual to the opening ceremony video, and the feature video where Bito interviews the jury members about design for sustainability.
▲ Taiwanese comedian, TV anchor and MC, Mickey Huang hosts the award ceremony for a fourth year.
▲ The interval performance was given by popular electronic band Astro Bunny.
Best Design
The 30 Golden Pin Design Award 2019 Best Design winners are comprised of 8 from the product design category, 9 from communication design, 11 from spatial design, and 2 from integration design. Designers from Taiwan took home the lion’s share with 17 Best Design winners, followed by China with 7, Hong Kong with 4, then Germany and South Korea with 1 each respectively. Two companies proved exceptional this year, MAKKAIHANG DESIGN and OPEN Architecture, both picking up two Best Design trophies. The 3 Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2019 Best Design winners are comprised of 1 in product design from Taiwan, 1 in communication design from Taiwan, and 1 in communication design from China.
▲ The Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2019 Best Design winner “Sound Lab”.
▲ The Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2019 Best Design winner “Weapon Font”.
Special Annual Award
This is the second year that the Golden Pin Design Award has presented Special Annual Awards championing circular design and social design. Best Design and Special Annual Award for Circular Design winner, W Glass (designed by Kiwico Corporation and Spring Pool Glass) represents the holistic importance of recyclable materials, stemming from the designers’ consideration of the product’s life cycle. Similarly, Best Design and Special Annual Award for Social Design winner, The Guidebook of Marine Debris (designed by Taiwan RE-THINK Environmental Education Association and SimpleInfo Design) raises awareness about the need for action, closing the loop, and reducing waste that inevitably flows into our oceans.
▲ The design team “W Glass” received the Special Annual Award for Circular Design.
▲ The design team “The Guidebook of Marine Debris” received the Special Annual Award for Social Design.
Final Selection Jury
The Golden Pin Design Award 2019 Final Selection jury brought together 10 global design experts, covering all award categories from product design to communication design, spatial design, and integration design. Luisa Bocchietto (Former-President of the World Design Organization) praised all examples of circular design on the shortlist, predicting growth in the trend of design for sustainability. Shu-Chang Kung (President of the Chinese Society of Interior Designers) highlighted professional curation in the integration design category, complementing the excellent integration of design, culture, and industry. Ching-Yueh Roan (Professor in the Department of Art and Design at Yuan Ze University) notes a humanized design focus among product entries from Taiwan, by which he means designers enhance the perception of warmth between people and objects.
The Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2019 Final Selection jury also gathered together 10 global design experts, covering all award categories. Wei-Hsiung Chan (Founder of Business Next Magazine) was impressed with the level of animation, especially those from China that discuss social issues such as alienation and domestic violence. Tony Chi (Founder of tonychi) noted a rebellious streak among many of the entrants, as well as a strong philosophical sense of self-reflection. Mei-Li Liao (Founder of Flaneur Culture Lab) encourages future entrants to consider the impact of overproduction and reconfigure each step in their design process from the bottom-up to address sustainability.
