YODC Winners Reveal the Caliber of Student Designers in Taiwan
2008/06/04 | By Quincy Liang
The winners of the 8th Young Designers' Competition (YODC 2008), the largest design competition for students in Taiwan, were announced in mid-May during the 27th Young Designers' Exhibition (YODEX 2008), the world's largest design fair for the academic community.
YODC 2008 is sponsored by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) and 39 private companies, as well as co-organized by the Good Design Association of Taiwan (GDA) and Taiwan Design Center (TDC), a national design institution.
The design contest serves a two-pronged purpose: to offer a rare platform on which local student designers can show creativity outside campuses, and perhaps more importantly, a showcase to enable local businesses and design houses to literally "interview" potential design talents and their work that can be brought onboard after graduation.
YODC 2008 saw more than 2,000 designs from 37 design schools submitted in five categories: Product Design, Craft Design, Graphic Design, Packaging Design, and Digital Media, up 170% from last year, with the judges selecting five Gold Award, 15 Silver Award, and 45 Award of Merit winners.
The following highlights a list of especially noteworthy gold and silver award winners:
Award: Gold Award / Product Design
Name of Creation: Chair & Dependence
Designer: Chen Jun-yu / National Cheng Kung University
The integrated desk and chair set for young students can be ingeniously turned into a safety cabinet, with many considerate details built in.
Award: Silver Award / Product Design
Name of Creation: Hsin Chuan
Designer: Wu Yu-pei / Oriental Institute of Technology
Various Chinese objects have always been distinctive reminders and hallmarks of the essence of Chinese culture, with the abacus being one such object. The designer was inspired by this antique, albeit still practical, manual calculator to create a cruet named "Hsin Chuan," which is not only an adorable ornament on dining tables, but also a useful drinking tool that is both a conversation piece and a potential collectible featuring flavors of Chinese culture.
Award: Gold Award / Craft Design
Name of Creation: Chess Box
Designer: Lee Kuei-jen / Dayeh University
Inspired by butterfly, the designer artfully turns a Chinese chess box into a multi-functional gift box that is also an ornament, an art object, or a part of furniture.
Award: Silver Award / Craft Design
Name of Creation: Golden Re
Designer: Ho Hsuan-hsuan / Shu-Te University
Drawing ideas from ancient Egyptian pyramids, the designer blends eastern and western cultural cues to create a tea serving that enables tea lovers to experience new sensations while sipping their favorite drink.
Award: Silver Award / Craft Design
Name of Creation: Tea
Designer: Chen Waun-cheng / Dayeh University
Tea has been perhaps the heart of Chinese drinking culture for millennia, as important in life in Taiwan as it is in other areas with large Chinese communities. Some believe that tea lovers cannot go through a day without drinking tea, while the various varieties of tea have proven properties to enhance health and offer good excuse to break from hectic living as one enjoys the drink. The designer is inspired by bamboo as an often used theme in Chinese paintings to create "tea wear" to enhance the leisurely and carefree mood while drinking tea.
Award: Silver Award / Craft Design
Name of Creation: Dear Clock
Designer: Lan De-hsuan / National Taiwan University of Arts
The designer's interpretation of Dear Clock aims to remind people to rethink the meaning of time, especially through adopting parts that imitate physiological processes as breathing, which is created by using an air pump.
Award: Gold Award / Packaging Design
Name of Creation: Colon
Designer: Lien Si-yuan etc. / Ming Chuan University
The designer attempts to redefine packaging in Colon: The colorful light-spot in life are colons that tell stories. The keynote of black and white emphasizes the colorfulness of light. To collocate the tactile feel of light, the packaging material is of "luster" and "coverage." The design of "tear and shine" package and the series of unfolding structure realize the impressive feel of brimming colorful light as packages are unwrapped.
Award: Silver Award / Packaging Design
Name of Creation: "Yuan" line fragrant series of joss-stick
Designer: Lin Tse-jieh et al / Fu-Hsin Trade & Arts School
The designers add new meaning to fragrant joss sticks.
Award: Silver Award / Packaging Design
Name of Creation: Tea & Paper
Designer: Wang Wei-shan et al / Shu-Te University
The designer does not divert from using paper, a historical tea-packaging medium, to recreate tea packaging and add new ideas and features to bring new spirit to tea packaging.
Award: Silver Award / Packaging Design
Name of Creation: American Fun
Designer: Liao Jun-hung et al / Fu-Hsin Trade & Arts School
This design team succeeds in addressing various critical criteria of current design, engaging in a packaging design project that more than lives up to its name. American Fun meets the goals of environmental friendliness, fun, and convenience.
Award: Gold Award / Graphic Design
Name of Creation: Lucky Lot
Designer: Chen Yi-ning et al / Fu Jen University
This designer attempts to reintroduce to especially the current generation the long-standing tradition of drawing the 60-best lots at temples in this graphic design project.
Award: Silver Award / Graphic Design
Name of Creation: buhauyisih yudaoni
Designer: Yang Ho-yin / Mingchih Institute of Technology
Taking cues from the traditional art of calligraphy, this designer aims to create an innovative painting style with simplified but emotional calligraphic lines, whose contemporary tone is underlined with its title that means literally "fancy meeting you here."
Award: Silver Award / Graphic Design
Name of Creation: The Flower Festival
Designer: Chen Tuo-hung et al / Chung Yuan Christian University
A graphical attempt to place at center-stage the importance of flowers in people's lives, the designer, in The Flower Festival, restores traditional Chinese aesthetics.
