The 41st annual International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) Ceremony, held virtually on September 21, 2021 and produced by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), revealed the placements of the IDEA Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Special Award winners in a record-breaking year for the program.
IDEA received the most entries ever in 2021. Of these over 2,000 entries from 25 countries, 234 designs were related to COVID-19. The 142 entries that received top awards in 2021 represent 13 countries: 61 Bronze, 50 Silver, and 31 Gold.
IDEA’s promotional partner in 2021 is the popular design blog LeManoosh. Read the LeManoosh article celebrating the IDEA 2021 winners here. This year IDEA also continued its partnership with The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI, which annually enters the top IDEA-winning designs into its permanent collection.
See all the IDEA 2021 winners in the IDEA Gallery.
Preceding the International Design Conference (IDC) 2021, also produced by IDSA, the IDEA Ceremony celebrated the world’s best designs across 20 categories, including a new category added this year: Concepts & Speculative Design.
The IDEA 2021 Best in Show winner is Xbox Adaptive Controller, also a Gold winner in the Consumer Technology category. The winner of both the Jury Chair’s Award and People’s Choice Award is Eargo Neo Hearing Aids and Charging Case. The Curator’s Choice Award winner is Level Touch – The Invisible Smart Lock, also a Gold winner in the Home category.
The diverse and accomplished IDEA jury of 44 members—including design leaders at Adobe, Amazon, IDEO, Fjord, Garmin, HP, Logitech, and McKinsey Design—chose the IDEA 2021 winners based on five criteria that have remained unchanged since 1980: Design Innovation, Benefit to the User, Benefit to the Client, Benefit to Society, and Appropriate Aesthetics. IDEA’s high standard for design excellence and rigorous judging process set the benchmark for all design awards programs and remain central to IDEA’s continued influence and prestige.
The IDEA 2021 Ceremony was co-hosted by Mary Beth Privitera, PhD, FIDSA, Principal at HS Design and the IDEA 2021 Jury Chair, and Jason Belaire, IDSA, Chair of IDSA’s Board of Directors.
During the ceremony, Belaire introduced the IDEA 2022 Jury Chair: Tim Allen, VP of Design at Airbnb. Allen leads the global product design team at Airbnb, centered on design and inclusivity. Prior to Airbnb, Allen led Microsoft’s Experiences & Devices design practice and Amazon’s Product Design Studio as Executive Creative Director.
Design credits, details, and images of all the winners can be found in the IDEA Gallery.
IDEA 2021 BEST IN SHOW AWARD
- Xbox Adaptive Controller
IDEA 2021 JURY CHAIR’S AWARD
- Eargo Neo Hearing Aids and Charging Case
IDEA 2021 PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
- Eargo Neo Hearing Aids and Charging Case
IDEA 2021 CURATOR’S CHOICE AWARD
- Level Touch – The Invisible Smart Lock
AUTOMOTIVE & TRANSPORTATION
Gold
- Hyundai IONIQ 5
Silver
- ST-One
- Uber Beacon
Bronze
- Alpha 85S Jump Starter
- NEOLIX X3
BRANDING
Gold
- Century Brand Identity Program
Silver
- idus
- The Korean Air X Hyundai Card Credit Card Design
Bronze
- MX BOOST
CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS
Gold
- CLOVA Lamp
Silver
- Ergobaby Aerloom FormaKnit Stretch Baby Carrier
Bronze
- All Star Wood Cot Bed
- Juno Bassinet – Pop-up bed for newborn babies
COMMERCIAL & INDUSTRIAL
Gold
- Apex Exosuit
- BDR100-20
- Level Bolt – The Invisible Smart Lock
Silver
- Blackmagic Fairlight Desktop Console
- Mirion AccuRad Personal Radiation Detector
- Safety Welder
Bronze
- Geko G100 – Automatic Wall Putty Grinding Robot
- Verkada Access Control
CONCEPTS & SPECULATIVE DESIGN
Gold
- CXN ONE
- LOTUS – Next Generation Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
Silver
- Bizzy and Martian
- Bot Public
- Mobile Window
- The Multi-Purpose Delivery Vehicle
Bronze
- M2 ICU – Mobile Medical Intensive Care Unit
- Shield
CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY
Gold
- Xbox Adaptive Controller
- Xbox Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller
Silver
- Curve
- Google Meet Hardware – Series One
- PlayStation 5
- QN900A, Neo QLED 8K
- Xbox Series X
- Xbox Wireless Controller
Bronze
- AlphaEgg SmartPen Q3
- Belkin BOOST CHARGE PRO 3-in-1 Wireless Charger with MagSafe 15W
- FUJIFILM X100V
- inSight
- Kandao Obsidian Pro
- The Frame (2021 release)
- The Premiere (LSP9T) 4K Smart Triple Laser Projector
DESIGN STRATEGY
Gold
- MX FUEL Equipment Strategy
Silver
- Design Frame
DIGITAL INTERACTION
Gold
- Haptic – Making the Visually Impaired Feel the UI
Silver
- MIUI Nature Sound System
- SmartThings Cooking
Bronze
- Fitbit Stress Management Experience
- Mobile Clinic Module Control UI/UX
ENVIRONMENTS
Gold
- Blokable at Phoenix Rising
Silver
- 24 FRAMES OF LIGHTWELL
Bronze
- White Mountain Club House
FURNITURE & LIGHTING
Gold
- JEROME
Silver
- Gantri x AMMUNITION Lighting Collections
- RETWEED
Bronze
- Americana
- D-cloud
HOME
Gold
- 27ART10
- Level Touch – The Invisible Smart Lock
- Nebia by Moen Spa Shower
- Pella Easy-Slide Operator
- Sepura Home Composting Garbage Disposal Unit
Silver
- Avoir Tankless Toilet
- BESPOKE Air Purifier AX9500N
- BESPOKE Stick VS6800
- Water Pot & The Table
Bronze
- 360 Air Purifier
- All New Stylelec
- BESPOKE 4-Door Flex Refrigerator
- Electric Cooking Package
- Eufy H30 Cordless Handheld Vacuum Cleaner
- Flexispace Bathtub
- Gallery Stand
- Mijia K10 Wireless Vacuum Cleaner
- Noble Series
- Oransi Mod
- QP5
- Toshiba Air Purifier Series
- WashTower with Center Control
LIFESTYLE & ACCESSORIES
Gold
- Aplat Origami Face Mask
Silver
- Zero Halliburton Pursuit Aluminum Luggage
Bronze
- Burch Barrel
MEDICAL & HEALTH
Gold
- Nella NuSpec Reusable Vaginal Speculum
- WorldVent Ventilator
Silver
- Allergy Amulet
- Healthdot
- Rebel
- Quip Refillable Floss Pick
- Visby Medical COVID-19 Test
Bronze
- CMR Surgical – Versius Surgical Robotic System
- Eargo Neo Hearing Aids and Charger Case
- KoniKore
- R-Zero Arc
- Valence InVent Xtend
- Vave Health Handheld Ultrasound
OFFICE & ACCESSORIES
Gold
- Double Scissors
Silver
- Collective Conscious
- Fitter
Bronze
- LAY
- Pergola
- Tempo
OUTDOOR & GARDEN
Gold
- M12 Fuel Hatchet Pruning Saw
Silver
- Pellet Joe
Bronze
- Fi Smart Collar
- RYOBI 18V EZ Reach Pole Attachment System
PACKAGING
Gold
- Xfinity Eco Capsule for Xfinity Streaming Box and Xfinity Gateway Products
Silver
- Fitbit Sustainable Packaging
- Sonos Arc Packaging
Bronze
- Union & Scale Workplace Furnishings Packaging System
SERVICE DESIGN
Silver
- Service Meet Service: A Toolkit for Collaborative Action to End the Sex Trafficking of Youth
Bronze
- Radiology Operations Command Center
SOCIAL IMPACT DESIGN
Gold
- Badger Shield Open Source PPE
Silver
- Circular Plastics – Returning Waste to Use in Africa
SPORTS, LEISURE & RECREATION
Gold
- Awake RÄVIK S
Silver
- Powerbeats Pro
- SPOT Gen4 Global Satellite GPS Messenger
- Yakima Products CBX Solar Cargo Box
Bronze
- Bollé RYFTG
- Fitbit Inspire 2
STUDENT DESIGN
Gold
- Moove
- Sentinel – Outbreak Bio-reconnaissance
- Swell Surf Foot
- TômTex
Silver
- Elves – Shinola Camping Accessory Set
- MYO – Mix Your Own Household Cleaners
- OPlay—Ａ Medical Product for Children with Asthma
- Quilt – Remote Funeral Service for COVID-19
- Warmth of Projection
- ZERO – Non touch contact lenses
Bronze
- Cortec – Solar Park Service Robot
- Drift Lamp
- Finger-tape – Braille Correction Device
- Five Pieces of Wood
- Forest Guard
- GO-WALK
- Modular Convenient Stove
- Omnipotent
- QAED
- Scylla Underwater Platform
- VIA – Handheld Printer & Scanner