IDSA’s International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) 2017—honoring the best in industrial design and related fields—is open for entry through March 17, 2017. Enter at IDSA.org/IDEA.
IDEA 2017 Jury Chair Owen Foster, IDSA, is leading more than two dozen design experts from around the world in judging 20 categories covering products and more in almost every aspect of life from entertainment to environments; health to home; office to outdoor; social impact to sports. This year, there are two revitalized IDEA categories: Branding—recognizing identities, collateral and logo applications; and Consumer Technology—representing everything from smart phones and navigation systems to computers and mobile devices. Gold and Silver winners will be announced at the IDEA Ceremony and Gala on Aug. 19 in Atlanta, coinciding with IDSA’s International Design Conference 2017: Design IS Business.
Foster, of SHiFT Design Camp and Aether Global Learning, has a diverse background in architecture, landscape, environmental and industrial design—facilitating projects with Fortune 500 companies such as Coca-Cola and General Electric. Honored as IDSA’s Educator of the Year in 2015, Foster has guided study programs in Ireland, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Taiwan and China. “I’m honored to have been selected as the jury chair for IDEA 2017—celebrating design insight, talent and innovation. We’ve assembled an amazing group of individuals from an array of design fields to serve on this year’s jury, so IDEA is at the forefront of redefining what design could and should be.”
IDEA 2017 jurors work for global corporations, design studios, universities, landmarks and more such as Ammunition Design Group; aruliden; B/E Aerospace Group; College for Creative Studies; College of Creative Arts, University of New Zealand; CRAVE; Delta Faucet Company; Dolby Laboratories; fuseproject; GE Healthcare Global Design; Henry Ford Museum; Herbst Produkt; Hurdler Studios; IncludeFitness; Iowa State University; Metaphase; Pip Tompkin Design Studio; REI; Rochester Institute of Technology; Samsung; Shanghai Institute of Visual Art; Stitzlein Studio; Whipsaw; Whirlpool Corporation; and X, (formerly known as Google[x]).
Entries in IDEA 2016 came from Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, South America, North Africa and the Middle East. Countries included Austria, Brazil, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, Great Britain, Hungary, India, New Zealand, Italy, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and the United States.
IDEA 2016 triple winner, The Access Strength, scored Gold, Best in Show and Design for Equality. “Winning IDEA fundamentally changed everything—everything,” declares Ryan Eder, IDSA—designer of The Access Strength along with Priority Designs and AWH. Eder first made headlines in IDEA 2007 when his design concept for The Access Strength won Gold, Best in Show and People’s Choice. “It’s hard to put into words how meaningful this recognition is for me,” says Eder, who is now an IDEA 2017 juror. “The initial recognition from IDEA enabled me to change my entire life and pursue this vision.” (Eder spoke at IDSA’s International Design Conference 2016 and will address IDSA’s Central Design District Conference 2017).
Other IDEA 2016 winners include designs for major companies such as Audi, BMW, Dell, Dolby, Fisher-Price, Google, LG, Hewlett Packard, Motorola, Nextbit, Olympus, Panasonic, Ryobi and Rolls Royce; lifesaving products such as Emergency Medical System, Moyo Fetal Heart Rate Monitor, Treo Advanced Mobile Imaging and BoneAid; and cutting edge innovations in drones, robotics and virtual reality (VR).
Onsite jurying will be held at the iconic Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, MI. Bronze winners will be announced in mid-May.