Best IDEAs Go to Korean Companies

Korean companies swept the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) earlier this month.

The awards program is held annually by the Industrial Designer Society of America and this year they recognized products that showed the best combination of hardware, software, service and experience.

Three of the top IDEA winners this year are based in Korea – Samsung (seven awards), LG and Coway (three awards each). According to Smart Planet, this suggests an emerging trend in a “Korean dominance in design.”

Samsung took home four gold awards, two silver awards and one bronze award in the enterprise category. Think of these as being equivalent to medals in the Olympics.

Among the Samsung products that received this prestigious recognition was a compact one-burner induction hob, the CTN 431SC01. Using this high-tech hotplate is easier than remembering its name. A combination of portability and ease of use makes cooking enjoyable and fun indoors or outdoors. Its design consists of soft rounded shapes, recessed controls and a translucent body available in five different colors. You can read more about Samsung’s many award-winning products at the company’s official global blog.

A Silver IDEA Award went to the Coway Teeny-Weeny countertop water purifier, which has a white, minimalist design. It uses three advanced filters to remove harmful substances like bacteria, carcinogens and heavy metals. Upping the convenience factor, Coway combined three filters into one filter than can be inserted with the simple press of a button. Coway also received recognition for its Daan air purifier and Hwaro heating humidifier cum air purifier.

As we’ve mentioned in a previous post, LG was also a Silver Award recipient for its 55-inch OLED TV. The ultra-thin television, which claims to be the world’s slimmest, comes with an optional pneumatic floor stand that adjusts up and down with the press of a button.

LG was also honored for a concept product, as well as the CINEMA 3D Smart TV with Magic Remote. The Magic Remote combines Smart TV, cable, satellite and IPTV set-top box controls in a single remote to reduce living room clutter. Earlier this year, LG also earned red dot design awards for 12 products and iF awards for 14 products.

In addition to the electronics and tech companies, Korean automaker Kia Motors won bronze in the transportation design category for the Pride/Rio. With this award, Kia has been recognized at all three of the world’s top design competitions: the International Forum Design Awards, red dot Awards and now the IDEA Awards.

It has been a big year for design for Korean companies, and all of these different awards are signs of only good things to come.

The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) is the world’s oldest, largest, member-driven society for product design, industrial design, interaction design, human factors, ergonomics and related design fields.