2008 IDEA Awards

This year's IDEA awards (International Design Excellence Awards) were announced on Friday. I'll try and cover a few of my favorites over the next few days. In the mean time check out the winner galleries on the IDSA or the Business Week websites.

Bombay Sapphire Design Competition - Vote

Most designers are probably familiar with the Bombay Sapphire design competition. It has been going on for many years. Designers are invited to submit designs for a new martini glass inspired by Bombay Sapphire gin. The 2008 national entries are currently posted for voting. If you are voting from the US, my friend Mike Roller is one of the US designers featured. His glass, entitled Vapour, has 10 glass elements supporting a classically shaped martini top, represents the 10 ingredients being vaporized into the special drink. Vote for Mike's Vapour design by entering the website, clicking on Vote for Favorite and then scrolling right to view all the entries.

2007 IDEA Awards

The 2007 IDEA design awards have been announced. Congratulations to my friends and former co-workers JaeHo Choi, Quintin Morris, Eric Johnson, and Curt Croley on their award for the Motorola WT4000 Wearable Computer! For a full list of the winning products go the the IDSA website or the Business Week website.

Mail Me Art

Mail Me Art is a collaborative art project created by Darren Di Lieto. The project invites wannabe artists to create a work of art on an envelope of parcel and mail it to the project's address in the UK. The end goal of the project is to show the submissions in London gallery where the pieces will be sold. Part of the money from the sale goes back the artist. The site also offers monthly prizes to keep the mailing momentum up. For more information on how to submit, visit www.mailmeart.com.

Index Award

I came across this site for the Index Award the other day. It is a design award given every two years to products or ideas that improve human life. The aim of the competition is to increase public awareness about how design can help improve life on a global scale. Five €100,000 prizes are given away in the categories of Body, Home, Work, Play and Community. There are hundreds of nominations on the site. I will write some postings on a few of the more interesting entries over the next few weeks.

Cooper-Hewitt People's Design Awards

As part this year's National Design Awards, the Cooper-Hewitt was accepting nominations for the People's Design Award where members of the public could nominate and vote for their favorite designs. Nominees include the usual suspects like the iPod and the Mini Cooper but they also some great nominations for the wheel, the umbrella, duct tape, air bags and playing cards. That is my kind of design contest! Check out all the nomination on at the Cooper-Hewitt site.