IDEA 2011 Overview

The IDSA IDEA® awards have been called “the Oscars of design” …and for good reason!

Started in 1980 by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), the International Design Excellence Awards program (IDEA) fosters business and public understanding about the impact of design excellence on the quality of life and the economy. While the IDEA program is considered the preeminent design competition in the nation, its scope and influence reach far beyond US boundaries.

What makes IDEA THE design competition to enter?

The Entrants

Thousands of products and designs are submitted each year, but only a few emerge with a coveted IDEA award. With entrants from countries as far-reaching as Japan, Croatia, Brazil and New Zealand and a continuing upward trend in international participation, the IDEA program highlights the best in design from around the world.

The Winners’ Circle

IDEA winners demonstrate how good design and smart business thinking can elevate a product from the ordinary to the extraordinary. Past winners like Apple, fuseproject, Mitsubishi, IDEO and Samsung represent a cross-section of the economy, design and business elite. A winners’ circle that includes students, high-profile brands, household names and innovative designs for the future reflect the scope and reach of the design discipline itself.

The Judging

Every IDEA jury is made up of world-renowned designers and design thinkers that bring considerable knowledge and expertise to the table, spending weeks previewing entries online and two-and-a-half days in intense, face-to-face evaluation and debate, all to decide the year’s IDEA winners. In fact, the list of past IDEA jurors reads (see below) like a who’s who of design leaders, visionaries and icons.

The Recognition

IDEA award winners are deemed such shining examples of design excellence that for the second year in a row they will become part of the permanent collection at The Henry Ford! Past winners have been recognized in BusinessWeek and are currently featured in Fast Company in addition to the hundreds of other media outlets that pick up and cover specific categories or products. The IDEA program brings international recognition, accolades and attention in a climate where differentiation and a spotlight can make or break a design or a career.

Become a Sponsor

Interested in being a sponsor for IDEA 2011? Contact Katie Fleger at katief@idsa.org or 703-707-6000 ext. 104 for more information.

Enter today!

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