As IDSA’s International Design Excellence Awards competition enters its 37th year, the categories have evolved.
Branding is back—drawing global entries in identities, collateral and additional logo applications. And it couldn’t have returned at a more relevant time. “Branding has become a practice critical to design as product ecosystems extend across both physical and digital spaces,” says fuseproject Director of Industrial Design Qin Li, IDSA, the at-large director on IDSA’s Board of Directors who is focused on IDEA. “Successful brand design allows businesses to express their thinking across media and material to create a holistic experience and message.”
Li says the IDEA Branding category enables the competition to draw all these aspects into consideration and recognize innovative designs under one umbrella in one of the world’s most rigorous and prestigious design competitions. “I’m very excited to have the Branding category this year,” she adds. “We’re looking forward to seeing amazing entries from around the world!”
Li’s colleague at fuseproject, Director of Brand Kristine Arth, is part of the IDEA 2017 jury. “The relationship between brand design and product development often goes overlooked,” she feels. “IDEA is known for awarding innovative products, which in turn, have influenced the creation of incredible branding. Though the same can be said for a strong graphic solution when combined with product design—branding can create a more powerful, holistic narrative.”
Arth, who was on the fuseproject team that designed IDEA 2017 winner UP24 by Jawbone, finds that the connection between brand design and product design is what drives her to create. “It’s what I’m looking forward to seeing most in this year’s brand design entries,” she reveals.
The other addition to IDEA 2017 is the Consumer Technology category. It’s the result of the merger of the Communication Tools and Computer Equipment categories from previous years—and of the growing impact of technology on our daily lives. The new Consumer Technology category is more comprehensive than ever before—aiming to recognize the best in design in everything from phones to computers to navigation devices to peripherals.