by Rebecca Walker — July 31, 2009 The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA), BusinessWeek, Target and Autodesk have announced the winners of the 2009 International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) competition. The emphasis by the judges was on creating an appropriately user-friendly experience.
Out of 1631 entries, 31 were awarded the coveted Gold award, while 47 received Silver awards and 72 won Bronze awards. The Best in Show title was awarded to Nike for its Trash Talk basketball shoe.
There were 9 winners in the Office and Productivity catgegory, but only one Gold award; there were five winners of Bronze and Silver awards in this category, which relates to facilities managers and designers.
Teneo Storage Furniture from Herman Miller, Inc., earned Gold in the Office and Productivity category. Designed by Ayse Birsel and Bibi Seck of Birsel+Seck, Teneo provides a new paradigm for the filing and storage category, says the company. It combines the functional qualities of storage with the aesthetic qualities of furniture and its systemic approach allows it to be a product platform that can evolve and adapt.
Besides its design being based on a total understanding of how the product would be used in real world applications, Teneo was cited for its strong environmental benefits and its modular design, where twenty parts can be used to create over eighty products. All Teneo products are made from the same set of elements and share design features to provide a consistent look and create a unified aesthetic within an environment.
Other winners in the Office and Productivity category included the LINK LED Task Lamp (Silver), the Steelcase Cobi and i2i chairs (both Silver), the Steelcase Amia Chair (Bronze) and the Coalesse Vecta Akira Tables (Bronze).
A complete list of winners is available online.
For more on Herman Miller, see its Web site.
