With the 2021 A’Design Award and Competition coming to an end, five design works by Zhang Rong’s team from the School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation stood out from more than 100,000 works around the world, receiving one Silver Award, three Bronze Awards, and one Iron Award.
A’Design Award and Competition is the largest global design award which covers the most countries and regions. With “Arts Autura Cultura” as its philosophy, the competition aims to become a fair platform for designers, creative people, and design companies from different fields to compete together, and has been recognized by the International Council of Graphic Design Associations (ICOGRADA) and the Bureau of European Design Association (BEDA). Winning a Silver Award means that the work is among the top 3%~5% of over 100,000 works submitted this year, while Bronze Award and Iron Award represent the top 5%~10% and 10%~20% respectively.
A’Design Award and Competition
The Compact Air Purifier, which concentrates on people’s need of low-cost compact air purifier, won the Silver Award. By redesigning the structure of the product and merging various parts such as the filter support parts, some appearance parts, and the wind tunnel parts into one, the team reduced the volume and costs of the air purifier and turned it into a small-scale air purifier with a 200m3/h CADR. Corner curves and the clean design illuminate its elegant impression.
Silver A’ Design Award Winner: Compact Air Purifier
The design Glacier Food Washing Machine won the Bronze Award. Glacier is a kitchen food cleaner that effectively removes pesticide residuals, heavy metal, fertilizer, and bacteria. The purpose of Glacier is to express extraordinary cleanliness and high-quality life attitude. The machine utilizes abstract polygons and large-scale instruction lights to build a picture of natural glacier that embodies purity and steadiness. Usage of large area of transparent PC material brings rich layering and overall attractiveness to the machine body. A large control panel is installed on the front side of Glacier with bottoms indicating “meat”, “fruits”, “vegetables”, etc. Users only need to put food into the machine and push the button to operate the machine.
Bronze A’ Design Award Winner: Glacier Food Washing Machine
Dodoshine, designed for an appliance brand that uses UV sterilization technology, won the Bronze Award. Designers are inspired by two aspects. First of all, “shine” expresses the sunshine lifestyle and UV technology. The “do” added to the front is not only an action instruction, but also means “more” in Chinese pronunciation. Second, designers found that famous fashion brands use exaggerated serifs on logos to impress consumers. Therefore, the designers carefully used a combination of such elements to make the brand image more fashionable. The name draws on the Chinese habit of using sunlight to kill bacteria, which not only promotes a healthy lifestyle, but also cleverly combines with the UV technology.
Bronze A’ Design Award Winner: Dodoshine Brand Design
The Natural Fountain Drinking Dispenser for Pets received the Bronze Award. The Natural Fountain (TNF) employs a timeless and inartificial design language that represents modern people’s attitude for pursuing a simple and cozy lifestyle. The curved surface of the soft top creates a water puddle for pets’ drinking need and conveys a pure concept from minimalism. TNF's geometric body carries innovative UV sterilization and water circulation filter system.
Bronze A’ Design Award Winner: The Natural Fountain (TNF) Drinking Dispenser for Pets
Air Btn UI Elements, which is inspired by the button shapes of different products and the brand image of the client, won the Bronze Award. The UI elements reflect the high quality of the products and enhance the brand image. The objective of the UI elements is to convey complex functions in a fast and simple way. These clear UI elements not only represent effective user communication, but also meet the manufacturing requirements of various products.
Bronze A’ Design Award Winner: Air Btn UI Elements
The Human Machine Interaction Lab directed by Zhang Rong has been focusing on innovative design for many years, and its team members include many undergraduates and postgraduates in the School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation. The team was honored with the Red Dot Design Award in Germany in 2019, and their works have been displayed in the Red Dot Design Museum in Germany since then.
Reported by Qi Jianli
Reviewed by Zhang Zhigang
Edited by Jia Aiping
Translated by Wen Peiyu
