It’s celebration time – well, aside from Star Wars Day and Cinco de Mayo, it’s also that time of the year that the A’ Design Award and Competition reveal their yearly winners! Spanning literally a hundred categories, the A’ Design Awards look at creating a holistic list of the best designs internationally, across all disciplines. Held annually, the A’ Design Award and Competition is like the Yellow Pages of good design, and you can be a part of it too by participating!
The A’ Design Award and Competition is much more than just your average awards program. It actively seeks good design, markets it, and brings value to the project as well as the designer in the form of a wide range of value-added services like a dedicated PR Campaign, an online exhibition, and even a platform to sell your design on… and these perks aren’t just limited to the design, they extend to the designers and creators too. Your participation entitles you to a proof-of-creation document, inclusion in A’ Design’s Business Network, and the Design Fee Calculator service that lets you accurately price your design services for future clients, allowing you to set up your design practice.
Judged by a grand jury of 227 elite designers and educators, here are a select few of A’ Design Award and Competition 2021’s winners. We’ve hand-picked some of our favorites from this year’s list of winners spanning categories such as Product Design, Social Design, Tech, Furniture, Medical, and Transportation Design. Scroll down below to have a look at what’s making the waves this year in the design circuit! And don’t forget to register below to participate in the competition for 2022-23 to make sure your work as well as you get the recognition you deserve!
Grab an Early-bird Registration for A’ Design Awards 2022-23 by clicking here!
Beach Cabin on the Baltic Sea by Peter Kuczia
Part cabin part conservatory, the Beach Cabin on the Baltic Sea offers the most stunning panoramic views of the beach. This small gastronomy facility located in north Poland near Gdansk boasts of a simple form that fits naturally into the beach environment. The cabin comes in two parts – an enclosed space, and a vast, open living/dining area that provides shelter along with an abundance of natural light. The glass facade gives onlookers an absolutely sublime view of the ocean, the shoreline, and even the sky above! The building stands on stilts so as not to touch the terrain directly… which means it literally floats above the sand. Tell me that isn’t the most dreamy piece of architecture you’ve ever seen!
Haragana Lounge Chair by Tobias Kappeler
The Haragana is a lounge chair made from bent steel tubes and cork disks for seating. Its metal outline, to any astute observer, resembles an armchair, however, the Haragana doesn’t have any cushions or upholstery. Instead, its seating area is split into 6 discs spread across the base and the backrest. Visually, the Haragana aims at challenging the stereotype of a chair by being radically different, but functionally, it still is comfortable to sit on, with the cork discs providing just the right amount of softness and support. All in all, the chair also fulfills yet another purpose – that of evoking a sense of curiosity, and always inviting you to try and sit on it!
Polychromatic Mobile Phone by Tecno Camon 19 Pro Design Team
Using patterns and light to define how unique your phone looks, the Polychromatic Mobile Phone comes with a rather Mondrian-inspired grid of pearlescent swatches that change colors based on whether it’s exposed to UV light or not. At first glance, the Polychromatic phone instantly reminds one of Google’s Project Ara… however as Google quietly killed that endeavor citing complex issues, the team at Tecno Camon took its grid pattern to the next level. Combining that with inspiration from French painter Edouard Manet, who brought light into painting and is credited with creating the Impressionist art movement, Tecno Camon created the Polychromatic Mobile Phone’s design – a striking grid-based rear design that’s also UV light-responsive, changing colors/tints when exposed to ultraviolet light.
GS-X One Food Delivery Robot by Shanghai Gaussian Automation Tech Dev.
Waiters have two hands… the GS-X has four! Well, equipped with four drawers, the GS-X is an intelligent service robot that can deliver food to tables with efficiency and accuracy… and a smile! With dual positioning cameras placed at the top and the bottom, GS-X can quickly perceive the environment and plan paths for contactless delivery. Pandemic got you paranoid? Well, GS-X can also perform temperature measurements, facilitating epidemic prevention and control.
The Emerald Isle Rare Irish Whiskey Packaging by Tiago Russo
Inspired by the Faberge egg, the Emerald Isle whiskey mirrors a similar rare opulence with how luxuriously it’s packaged. A statement of whiskey, art, and craftsmanship, the whisky’s bottle and packaging use the Faberge as a recurring design accent throughout the entire collection. The opulent colored gemstones on the box reflect Ireland’s traditions and natural beauty. Touted as the rarest and most expensive whiskey ever sold, only seven units of the Emerald Isle whiskey were produced and sold at an auction, where the bottles were sold for a starting price of 2 million USD! Each egg-shaped bottle comes encased in a luxurious wooden display case, covered by a glass box. Open the display case and each bottle is also accompanied by drinking accessories, a Faberge egg replica, a premium wristwatch, and a set of Cohiba cigars to complete the entire experience!
Draw One Calendar by Dan Wang and Ziqiang He
Designed to serve as a calendar as well as a use-one-per-day paper towel dispenser, the Draw One sits mounted on your kitchen wall. Now why would one in their right mind combine a calendar and a towel dispenser? Well, designers Dan Wang and Ziqiang He wanted people to respect and cherish time as well as paper. “Draw One Calendar is a minimalist calendar that uses the form of a tissue box as a metaphor for the preciousness of time”, mentioned the designers. The calendar uses individual sheets of paper to display the date, with each sheet also serving as a paper towel. The catch is that you can only use one paper towel per day, so you’re automatically conditioned to be more economical and not waste paper towels. Moreover, as the year is complete, you can simply add another set of 365 paper towels into the Draw One’s wooden dispenser box.
E390 Electromobile by AIMA TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.
The E390 may not have an incredibly sexy name, but it sure looks like a stunner. Unlike scooters that are usually known for having a less-than-slender body language, the E390 boasts of an incredibly lean profile, allowing it to have the appeal of a moped, with the template of a scooter. Designed for urban commuting, the E390 rightfully looks stylish in the contemporary sense, with a clean design, fresh blue colorway, and that beautifully slim yet piercing headlight! And although you can’t see it in the picture, the E390 also boasts of an incredibly well-designed dashboard that blends right into the scooter’s form without so much as one parting or separation line!
Iko Hanging Chair by Ivo Andric
“A levitating sphere, a focus capsule, a refuge for the senses”, that’s what Ivo Andric prefers to call his design rather than simply a ‘hanging chair’. After all, the Iko doesn’t look or feel like your traditional chair. Designed like a nest of a weaverbird, this little hanging cocoon provides a neat enclosed space for you to lounge in, allowing you to take a reclusive break right within your home. The chair is shaped like an icosahedron, creating a geometric dynamism that complements most home decor, and comes with plush cushions and felt-lined acoustic-panel walls to give you comfort and quiet whenever you want!
Canairi Indoor Air Quality Monitor by Hans Augustenborg
Designed to look like home decor, the Canairi actually serves a pretty important health purpose – it tells you whether your air quality is good or bad. Mounted on your wall, this adorable yellow bird either stands upright, to let you know the air you’re breathing is clean, or dramatically falls over to give you a heads up when your air quality drops below acceptable limits. The idea comes from the old belief that canary birds were used in coal mines to detect danger, mainly, carbon monoxide. If the bird fainted, it was a sign that the levels of carbon monoxide were too high and miners would be instructed to evacuate. Not a particularly ethical use of canaries if you ask me, but I assure you, no canaries were harmed in the making of this air quality monitor!
Migo 3D Printer by Junshen Pan and Jie Shen
Named after the word Amigo, this little 3D printer is small enough to actually be carried around wherever you go! Roughly the size of a cat or a small dog, the Migo fits right in your backpack (you know the kind you use to carry pets on) and can be carried from home to work… although it wasn’t quite designed for work. You see, given its small footprint, Migo can’t really print larger objects – which makes it perfect for educational use rather than professional use. Gone are the days when kids carried books in their backpacks. The future involves kids carrying their own 3D printers! Although no, I’m pretty sure the printer isn’t designed to run while inside the backpack… yet.
Grab an Early-bird Registration for A’ Design Awards 2022-23 by clicking here!
