Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award–the only international design award focused on the world’s Chinese-speaking, or huaren, communities–is calling for entries for its 2017 edition. The competition represents a chance for companies and brands to test the viability of their products and projects in the dynamic Greater China region.
The global huaren community and its associated highly diverse markets collectively constitute one of the most powerful economies on the globe. In China alone, in the period to 2030, working-age consumers are expected to expand by 20 percent (an additional 100 million people), with per capita consumption expected to double in that period. (Source: McKinsey Global Institute, April 2016.)
Consumers in the Chinese-speaking world are increasingly influenced by design, and many look to the Golden Pin Design Award as a trusted indicator of quality and innovation. Globally influential companies and brands like Apple, Disney, Volkswagen, and Starbucks are already making design decisions for this market, and seeing success from their efforts.
Entries into the Golden Pin Design Award are accepted in four categories: Product Design, Visual Communication Design, Packaging Design, and Spatial Design. Aside from offering entrants the chance to prove their prowess in the world’s largest market, other benefits of participation include:
- An affordable entry fee, with no additional costs incurred by entrants at any stage of the award process.
- A comprehensive review of all entered works by an expert panel of jurors, which in the past has included local and international design world luminaries like Oki Sato of Nendo and industrial designer Naoto Fukasawa (Japan); Dr. Brandon Gien of Good Design Australia and communications designer Harry Williamson (Australia); design consultant Tommy Li and industrial designer Vivian Cheng (Hong Kong); graphic designer Bi Xuefeng (China); and Shikuan Chen, head of design at Compal Electronics (Taiwan).
- A coveted Golden Pin Design Mark received by all entrants who pass secondary selection. This indicator of innovation and quality, which is well recognized by consumers in the Chinese-speaking world, can be used by recipients on marketing materials and online.
- An invitation to attend the lavish December award ceremony in Taiwan’s buzzing capital city, Taipei–providing a chance to network with designers and company owners from across the Greater China region and beyond.
- The chance to take home a bespoke trophy designed by world-renowned Taiwanese glass art brand, LIULIGONGFANG, presented to all Best Design winners at the ceremony.
- Multilingual coverage and promotional opportunities for Design Mark recipients and Best Design winners. Past winners have been profiled in hundreds of publications since 2014, including Economic Daily (Taiwan), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), Wallpaper* (Thailand), Creative Bloq (UK), and ArchDaily (USA).
View of the exhibition of the winners of the 2016 Golden Pin Design Award at the Taiwan Design Museum
In 2016, the Taiwan Design Center, the executors of the Golden Pin Design Award, received a record-setting 3,005 entries from 13 countries and regions around the world, with brand new entrants from Canada, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, and the UK. Of those entrants, 465 products and projects earned Design Marks in September, while just 23 entrants from Taiwan, China, and Macau took home a coveted Best Design trophy in December.
Winning designs from the past awards can be seen on the online exhibition page. The Taiwan Design Museum at the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park in Taipei also hosts an exhibition of winners of the most recent competition.
For 2017 entry requirements, visit http://www.goldenpin.org.tw/en/pgpnyg1.asp. To enter online, visit: http://member.goldenpin.org.tw/GoldenPin/Register.
Entry deadline: June 30, 2017
Entry fee: US$35 (per project entered)