Golden Pin Design Award is the longest-running international design award that celebrates products or projects expressly created for Chinese-speaking communities. The theme this year is designing to prevent epidemics and after days of deliberation, up to 91 finalists have been selected for the Golden Pin Design Award. From 83 entries, there were 45 from Taiwan, 22 from Mainland China, seven from Hong Kong, four from Thailand, two from the U.S., one from Canada, one from Poland, and 1 from Indonesia.
For the Golden Pin Concept Design Award, the jury shortlisted eight out of 60 entries for Best Design: five from Taiwan, one from Hong Kong, and one from India. The most important value of this award is to encourage designers to think outside the box and generate new ideas in the hope that more designers will propose bold, creative solutions to invigorate both society and a variety of industries.
Here are the highlights.
Golden Pin Design Award - Product Design Category
❚ Pallawa (Indonesia)
by Ranting Workshop
Ranting Workshop from Indonesia created Pallawa, not a pencil but not a pen either. With a tip made of tin alloy and a body that reuses scrap wood, Pallawa is the writing instrument that will never run out. When the tin alloy is scratched on paper, it will leave streaks that have a pencil-like colour, almost dark grayish, but cannot be erased. The body features a variety of local wood waste several design motives that were done by hand. Pallawa is durable and has minimal environmental footprint.
❚ FORM Smart Swimming Goggles (Canada)
by Form Athletica
Canadian-based Form Athletica’s Smart Swimming Goggles are a pair of smart goggles designed specifically for swimmers; using sensitive and accurate sensor technology, the goggles allow swimmers to view metrics such as swim pace and stroke rate in real-time.
❚ DARE VSRu AeroRoad (Taiwan)
by Compositegear Co., Ltd.
DARE Bikes’ VSRu AeroRoad sports a fully hidden cable design and an electronic gear-shift system with integrated battery mount and controller. The design impresses with its highly integrated technology and exceptional craftsmanship that allows for smooth and accurate gear shifting.
❚ G-Wall Modular Highly-Integrated Home Fitness System (China)
by Guangdong Piano Customized Furniture Co., Ltd.
G-Wall is a fitness system that can be integrated into a wall or custom furniture inside your home. It features a modular design and environmentally friendly bamboo material, takes up little space and is easy to stow, making it a must-have for users interested in joining the growing at-home fitness trend.
Golden Pin Design Award - Communication Design Category
❚ Shoushan Zoo Visual Identity Redesign (Taiwan)
by POM (Project On Museum)
This zoo visual identity redesign project consists of a symbolic signage system inspired by the local ecosystem that was first unveiled during the 2019 Kaohsiung Design Festival to create a futuristic and stylish visual identity for Shoushan Zoo.
Golden Pin Design Award - Spatial Design Category
❚ Architecture Library, Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)
by Department of ARCHITECTURE Co.
The library rethinks the functions and significance of the university as they relate to the library of the university’s Department of Architecture. Its multi-functionality and stylistically distinct spatial planning make this library more than just a place for reading; it is also an incubator of creativity.
Golden Pin Design Award - Spatial Design Category
❚ Go! Go! South Pole—Adventurous Horizon (Taiwan)
by InFormat Design Curating
It was an exhibition that showcased the achievements of Gamania Cheer Up Foundation’s Antarctica Expedition project; through brilliant curating and design, the exhibition transported visitors on an adventurous trek across Antarctica.
Golden Pin Concept Design Award
❚ FloaX (Taiwan) (Product Design category)
by Yu-Chun Chang & Joseph Kah-Rong Wong
Floax is a drain cover that automatically closes using the buoyant float and flaps inside, thus mitigating the issues of breeding mosquitos and slow drainage commonly found with ordinary drain covers.
❚ LIDfree (Taiwan) (Communication Design category)
by Chia-Chun Chuang & Pei-Chun Hsueh
LIDfree is a takeaway cup that does not require a plastic lid; it features a special folding lid structure and folding lid created using origami techniques. With this cup, the designers hope to simplify the recycling process and reduce plastic use while maintaining functionality and taking users’ habits into account.
❚ YEZO (Hong Kong) (Spatial Design category)
by Laboratory for Explorative Architecture & Design Ltd. | Kristof Crolla & Julien Klisz
YEZO is a small mountain retreat built in the northern mountains of Hokkaido, Japan. The design would use of the natural landscape and utilized an experimental design approach to create a new form of mountain retreat whose shape was carefully calculated, optimized, and realized with curved glue-laminated timber beams. This approach would reduce manufacturing costs and minimizes ecological impacts.