product design

2009 Judges Panel Holger Hampf, director of product design at BMW Group Designworks USA in Newbury Park, CA, has designed projects for Microsoft, Kyocera Corp., and Hewlett- Packard Development Co. LP. Tucker Viemeister, lab chief at the Lab at Rockwell Group in New York, is a founder of Smart Design, where he helped design the Oxo GoodGrips kitchen tools. Jeff Salazar, design director at Lunar in San Francisco, was awarded the iF Hanover award for his leadership in the design of the Oral-B Cross Action toothbrush, along with gold awards from the Industrial Designer’s Society of America for the Nova Cruz eX3 Electric Scooter. XHIBITOR Magazine’s Product Design Awards competition does what no single award program has ever done: It honors exhibit- and event-industry products that are not only beneficial to exhibitors, but that are also born of a sophisticated and aesthetically pleasing design. “Industries that consistently engage in rigorous design competitions not only establish industry-wide standards of excellence; they also earn recognition in the business press for the industry’s vision and innovation,” says Lee Knight, founder and CEO of Exhibitor Media Group, the leading producer of educational conferences and publications for the trade show industry. As Stefano Marzano, Philips Design’s CEO and chief creative director, says, “Design is a competitive force ... a new value driver of brand strength and recognition.” That we know. Since l986, EXHIBITOR Magazine’s Exhibit Design Awards competition has set the bar for trade show exhibit design, and designers have been striving to raise that bar ever since. In doing so, they have elevated the industry’s design profession to a new level. EXHIBITOR Magazine’s Product Design Awards will contribute a similar motivation for exhibit-related products; they’ll establish a new level of excellence for product design and encourage designers to crank it up a notch every year. The Product Design Awards were launched at the EXHIBITOR2009 show in Las Vegas without the knowledge of the entrants. Rather than soliciting entries for the newly formed program, organizers provided complimentary, automatic entry into the awards competition for all products entered in the show’s Buyers’ Choice Awards competition. To be eligible for the Buyers’ Choice, then, products had to be exhibited at EXHIBITOR2009 and launched between Jan. 1, 2008, and March 22, 2009. During the show, exhibit-marketing professionals judged these entries based mainly on the functionality and benefits the products offer exhibitors. In contrast, while the same products were judged for the Product Design Awards, the new competition was juried by a group of highly esteemed industrial designers, namely Holger Hampf, director of product design at BMW Group DesignworksUSA in Newbury Park, CA; Jeff Salazar, design director at San Francisco-based Lunar; and Tucker Viemeister, lab chief at the Lab at Rockwell Group in New York. The qualified trio considered each of the entries in terms of their functionality, industry benefits, and usefulness to exhibit professionals, as well as their overall design aesthetic. Thus, unbeknownst to Buyers’ Choice Awards entrants, three design experts covertly roamed the exhibit hall, judging the products through a critical industrial design lens. After hours of analysis, not to mention more than a little arguing and cajoling, the three jurors settled on the following six winners of EXHIBITOR Magazine’s first annual Product Design Awards. Please join us in congratulating this year’s winners, and read on to learn not only why judges selected them, but also how they might aid your exhibit or event program. Hailed by judges as “harmonious and timeless” and “simple, clean, and adaptable,” this year’s Product Design Award winners set a sophisticated tone for the new competition — and set a lofty bar for the industry. E

The Cube-X fabric display is a stand-alone aluminum-extrusion structure that can be used to create exhibit walls, kiosks, conference rooms, and more. Available in virtually any size, the Cube-X can be designed to build a structure from a 2-by-2-foot square to a 25-by-25-foot square and larger. Made of 90-percent recycled aluminum, the system features a quick-and-easy locking mechanism, allowing a 10-by-10-foot structure to be set up in about 30 minutes. “The stretchable fabric provides a clean, architectural appearance, and it is well tailored for the frames,” judges said. “Rather than providing another stretchy, swoopy fabric element that has no functional purpose, the Cube-X seems to provide solid volumes and freestanding functional elements that help define the exhibit space.” Contact: Fab X Frame Systems, Marine City, MI, 800-749-4448, www.fabxframe.com “Hanging heavy display screens from lightweight exhibition structures is a real problem,” judges said. “But the SpiderMount, a compact, sophisticated, and minimalist device, addresses the problem effectively.” Weighing less than 3 pounds, the SpiderMount display device allows exhibitors to seamlessly integrate flatscreen monitors into the wall of a pop-up display using the wall’s existing load-bearing capabilities. Up to four SpiderMount-equipped screens can be mounted on one standard Evolution 10-by-10-foot pop-up. “While you’d expect a support arm like this to be an ugly monstrosity hidden behind exhibit panels, this little device is really well designed,” judges said. “The beautiful choice and use of materials shows the company’s careful attention to detail.” Contact: ExpoDisplays, Birmingham, AL, 800-367-3976, www.expodisplays.com Hailed by judges as “far more than just another back-wall system,” the Supreme exhibit system is a portable, configurable system that can combine straight and curved elements, display cases, headers, and add-on options. A unique magnetic technique allows you to position graphics to create a seamless look. “Compared to almost all of the systems we’ve seen, which seem broken up and disjointed, this system looks more integrated and seamless,” judges said. “It allows for 90-degree turns and lets exhibitors create a sort of meandering display — a quality that offers expandability and adaptability over time. Furthermore, the lighting, technology, and wiring are well integrated into the architecture.” Contact: Accenta Display Corp., Largo, FL, 888-675-4500, www.accenta.com

Lauded by judges as “elegant and sophisticated,” the Poly Vision aluminum-extrusion system provides a unique way to display illuminated, large-format, fabric graphics. The frame, customizable to almost any length, houses the fabric and comprises an internally lit unit featuring LED modules — creating a near-perfect design, according to judges. “Aluvision’s product offering is flawlessly executed,” judges said. “This deceptively simplistic solution has every millimeter thought through and carefully crafted.” The Poly Vision system has a depth of less than 5 inches; plus, the energy-efficient LED units make it an environmentally responsible exhibit solution and create a uniform luminosity without revealing the light source through the fabric. Comparing the Poly Vision system to similar products on the market, judges felt it featured an “effective, sturdy construction for a large system assembly.” They described the design as “very ‘dialed in’ with overall proportions and system details composed in a harmonious and timeless fashion.” Contact: Aluvision, New York, 646-736-7317, www.aluvision.com ENTER THE 2010 PRODUCT DESIGN AWARDS Do you have a new product that can stack up to these design heavyweights? Then enter it in the 2010 Product Design Awards. Eligibility Exhibit- and event-related products launched between March 1, 2008, and March 1, 2010, are eligible. Products must be three-dimensional in nature, and line extensions (such as new sizes of an existing product) are ineligible. Entries must be displayed in an exhibit at EXHIBITOR2010 and available for immediate sale. Deadlines Winners of the 2010 competition will receive a trophy, and will be featured in EXHIBITOR’s August 2010 issue. The deadlines for the 2010 competition are Feb. 22 ($30 entry fee) and March 1 ($60 entry fee). Visit www.ExhibitorOnline.com/awards/pda for more information.

Simple yet sophisticated, the Quick-jack L.E.D. lighting system features a universal mounting point that accommodates multiple elements, such as telescoping rods and four different styles of fixtures. This allows exhibitors to vary the amount and direction of light. The Quick-jack is an elegant and functional way to highlight products, illuminate display cases, and more. “Overall, the product seems to communicate ‘quality,’” judges said. “The large variety of elements available suggests expandability and durability over time, and the appearance is quiet and technical rather than toyish. It stands out from other lighting products because it’s confident and quiet, like a well-behaved child.” Contact: Step 1 Dezigns, Costa Mesa, CA, 949-270-0250, www.step1dezigns.com A large-format, high-definition touchscreen appliance with integrated computer, the Kaon V-osk Presenter (available with a 24-, 37-, 42-, or 46-inch screen) helps expand interactive presentations to a video wall, multiple monitors, or even to a projection-system screen. The system’s software also shows 3-D interactive product models, interactive flow diagrams, video, PDF documents, and system demonstrations. “The ability to display products in a 3-D fashion allows for an engaging interaction with attendees minus the high costs of shipping products to the show,” judges said. “The well-designed components are not only user friendly; they’re also professional in appearance.” The integrated system comprises a presenter workstation and a universal connection supporting various video-output configurations, such as a video wall to a projector. Contact: Kaon Interactive Inc., Maynard, MA, 978-823-0111, www.kaon.com