2007 TIDC: An Invitation to Design Products for Amusement and Relaxation

The Taiwan Design Center (TDC) recently announced the results of the sixth Taiwan International Design Competition (2007 TIDC). From a total of 27 entries, Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards as well 15 Merit Award winners were selected.

Held under the theme of "Amusement," the design competition underscored the importance of relaxation and enjoyment in today's high-stress world. Amusement is an attitude toward life, the center stresses.

The 2007 TIDC was sponsored by the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs and executed by TDC. The number of competition items and participating nations has sharply increased over the past six events, from only about 200 items in the first year to over 3,000 items from 43 countries in 2007.

In 2007 TIDC, prizewinners came from South Korea, Canada, India, the United States, the U.K., and Taiwan. Local designers won a total of 18 of the 27 awards.

Award-Winning Products

Award: Gold Award

Title: Harmony Bench

Country: South Korea

Design: Sung-hun, Choi

The horn-shaped Harmony Bench has five seats for making drum, bass, piano, saxophone, and violin sounds. The sound comes out of trumpet-shaped speakers. People can choose which musical instrument to sit on. The sitters can control the rhythm and octave of their instrument by rotating their seat left and right.

Award: Silver Award

Title: Imaginary Shade-Tree

Country: South Korea

Design: Tatiang JS, Suh etc.

Imaginary Shade-Tree encourages communication between people, objects, and nature. The device fills an interior space with the colorful images of trees and casts leafy shadows that move silently across the space with the changing angle of the sunlight. The smart color-change device (a photo-chromic sticker) enhances the visual effect and blocks UV rays.

Award: Bronze Award

Title: Caution

Country: Taiwan

Design: Hsieh Chen-yuan etc.

The "Caution" is a sign that warns pedestrians of slippery surfaces with the visually intuitive and humorous image of a discarded banana peel.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Goal! Trash Can

Country: Taiwan

Design: Yang Shuen-fa

The "Goal! Trash Can" is designed like a goal to put the fun into trashing out the trash.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Paradox Shelf

Country: Taiwan

Design: Hsieh Tsung-han

This bookshelf is designed to introduce a bit of variability in life: books can be either inserted in the spaces between the folds or placed in a jumble on the table surfaces.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Spinning Coffee Table

Country: United States

Design: Hongtao, Zhou

The spinning coffee table consists of a multi-level panel structure that rotates around a central screw, creating an eye-catching visual effect. Customers can choose their own colors, shapes and height to conduct their own style and children can learn colors and materials when they are playing with educational blocks.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Tic Tac Cup

Country: Canada

Design: Liu Kuo-wei

This teacup set consists of two cups, one with a circular bottom and the other with an "X" pattern, enabling a game of tic-tac-toe on the tablecloth during your afternoon tea.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: WineTeller

Country: South Korea

Design: Samgmin Bae

The WineTeller is a device that can read the RFID chip in a wine bottle cork and display the information on the wine to help you with purchasing decisions.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Gulliver's Pillow

Country: Taiwan

Design: Chen Ying-jing

"Mushrooms" is the first item in the Gulliver's Pillow series. With the pillow, you can imagine that you have become a giant and the rest of the world is tiny. Fall on a group of little mushrooms, look out through the stems, and let your imagination go as you drift off to sleep.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Cyclub

Country: India

Design: Abhijit Bansod

This device enables people to socialize and work out at same time.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Stop. Look Around

Country: U.K.

Design: Ian Kettle

Escapism and reconnecting with nature and your surroundings, finding that urban tree house: a serene, personal place to relax and contemplate away from the frantic pace of city life. That is what this project is about.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Kong-Fu Kitchen

Country: Taiwan

Design: Yang Ke

The Kong-Fu Kitchen puts new meaning into "playing with your food."

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Go Fishing

Country: Taiwan

Design: Hsieh Pei-shang

The "Go Fishing" is a tea maker that looks like a buoy. It floats in the cup with the buoyancy of the tea leaves. As tea leaves expand, "Go Fishing" will slowly sink.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Painting Master

Country: Taiwan

Design: He Cheng-yu

The "Painting Master" allows you to customize or download favorite designs from software and use the pattern as wallpaper by "painting" on the designated electronic paper. You can change the design whenever you want in an environmentally friendly way without the hassle of painting.

Award: Award of Merit

Title: Swimming in the Sea of Bookmarks

Country: Taiwan

Design: Fang Hsiao-chia

When you use these bookmarks to mark the pages you need, you can see people chasing one after one in the water. You can arrange the scenario into a water ballet scene or a diving show.