THE 2007 INTERNATIONAL AWARDS
THE WORLD'S CORPORATE WHO'S WHO WORLDWIDE
2007 GOOD DESIGN Jury
Claes Appelquist, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, New York
George Beylerian, President, Material Connexion, New York
Joan Blumenfeld, President, Director of Interior Design, Perkins & Will, New York
Robert Goodwin, Design Director, Perkins & Will, New York
Susan Hakkarainen, President, Ivalo Lighting, Cooperburg, Pennsylvania
Phil Harrison, President/CEO, Perkins & Will, Atlanta, Georgia
Nancy Perkins, Jarden Consumer Solutions, Boca Ratan, Florida
Chip Reeves, Director of Design Programs, Dow Corning, Midland, Michigan
Organization
Christian K. Narkiewicz-Laine, Museum President, The Chicago Athenaeum
Ioannis Karalias, Museum Vice President, The Chicago Athenaeum
Lary L. Sommers, Director of Administration/Marketing, The Chicago Athenaeum
Kieran Conlon, Director/COO, The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design announces the Museum's annual GOOD DESIGN™ Awards for 2007 won by the world's most prestigious industrial design firms and manufacturers in a record of 33 nations participating.
The Awards elevate the best and finest new design and design innovation for products and graphics designed and manufactured as of 2005 to the present.
Founded in 1950, GOOD DESIGN is the world's oldest and most celebrated awards program that bestows international recognition upon designers and manufacturers for advancing new and innovative product concepts and for stretching the envelope beyond what is considered standard product and consumer design.
The Awards for 2007 are for the following categories:
electronics, robatics, sports equipment, children's products, furniture, office products, industrial equipment, medical equipment, fabric/textiles, automotive/transportation, urban furniture/architecture, tabletop, kitchen andbath, household appliances, household products, lighting, hardware/tools, personal products, and graphics and packaging—sure to influence the environments and the ways in which we live, work, and play around the world and in the new millennium.
For the 2007 edition of GOOD DESIGN, The Chicago Athenaeum received hundreds of applications from 6 continents contributing to the international importance of the historic GOOD DESIGN Awards. Over 400 products and graphic designs were selected by a distinguished jury of recognized architects, designers, and authorities in the design world for recent designs worthy of the Museum’s GOOD DESIGN Award, attesting to the design energy, vitality, and current innovation in global design today.
This year's edition was the "Corporate Who's Who" worldwide: 3M., adidas International, Apple Computer, Bang & Olufsen, Black and Decker, BMW AG., Boeing Corporation, Robert Bosch, British Airways, DaimlerChrysler, Eastman Kodak Company, Electrolux, Epson America, Festo AG., Ford Motor Company, Fujitsu Limited, General Motors Corporation, Harman Kardon, Herman Miller, Hewlett Packard, Intel Corp., Knoll, Inc., LG Electronics, Liz Claiborne, Inc., Logitech, Lutron, Melitta, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, Olympus, Owens Corning, Samsung, Siemens, Sun-Disk, T-Mobile, Tupperware, Unilever, Villeroy + Boch AG., and Whirlpool Corporation.
Germany, The United States, and Italy reigned in the number of awards given for product and graphic design.
The United States ranked as the leader in the number of awards with 270 in all categories and Germany as second with 230. Italy took the number three position with 67 awards followed by Denmark with 20 and Switzerland with 20. Canada won 19 awards; Great Britain 18. Holland won 16. Belgium and Japan received 12. Korea had 10; Ireland won nine—mostly in the electronics category. France and Croatia tied with seven awards. The jury gave six awards to Singapore; four to Lebanon and Finland, and three to Sweden. Russia, New Zealand, China, Spain, and Thailand received two awards each. One award was bestowed to Australia, Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Israel, Monaco, India, and The United Emirates.
The 2007 Jury for GOOD DESIGN based their decisions on aesthetic criteria stated in the original 1950 Program—criteria which measures innovation, form, materials, construction, concept, function and utility. Product appearance and aesthetic appeal is also considered. Both the 1950s and the Awards of the new millennium encourage manufacturers and designers to improve their design standards and quality. The Museum allows and encourages winning designers and manufacturers to use the GOOD DESIGN logo through a special license, the design by the late Chicago industrial designer, Mort Goldsholl in 1950, on product packaging, marketing, and promotions—just as it was used in during the 1950s.
GOOD DESIGN is organized by The Chicago Athenaeum:
Museum of Architecture and Design—one of the Chicago area's most prestigious cultural institutions and the only museum of architecture and design in the United States in conjunction with The European Centre for Architecture, Art, Design, and Urban Studies (Dublin and Athens), and Metropolitan Arts Press, Ltd.
