Design competition winners explore familiar problems with new and appealing solutions

Design competition winners explore familiar problems with new and appealing solutions

The recently concluded Golden Pin Concept Design Award 2018 handed out Best Design trophies to concepts that fly in the face of the conventional approach. Three concepts that bagged awards in Visual Communication, Spatial Design, and Product categories tackle old challenges with new vision. Although two of them involve new-fangled technologies, robotics and drones in particular, they are at the core about applying thoughtful solutions and then enlisting the aid new tools as necessary.

Printing on the Tiny

What is essentially an educational and practical guidebook, this project is a basic tool for the exploration of printing insects’ bodies through patterns, colors and structure. It has won for designers Chen YiXuan, Tsai Yen-Chen, Tao Rui from Taiwan the Best Design Award for Visual Communication. Designed for freshmen majoring in design and fresh graduates who are about to enter the design industry, Printing on the Tiny provides readers with theoretical knowledge, and an appreciation for printing effects. The judges note that as the book tackles the subject of insects and their ecology and turns them into a whole series of printmaking examples, it turns the often-arid subject of printing into something engaging. Designed for practical guidance of print professionals, it also opens up a new area of interest and inquiry for them as it effectively visualizes the subject.

RobloX

A proposal for ultra-high-performance concrete building elements won for Yu Cheng-Han, Chien Hung-Da, Huang Yen-Fen, Anna Uborevich-Borovskaya from Taiwan the Best Design Award under

the Spatial Design category. Called RobloX, the project explores the application of discreet digital design to construction, in particular the potential of prefabricated concrete systems to enable flexibility in construction and form, utilizing standardized UHPC (Ultra-High Performance Concrete) building elements. Central to the concept is the introduction of robotic arms for automatic assembly that allow the highly standardized building blocks to be robotically assembled into different structures, from different hierarchical building elements up to large-scale buildings. The project inspires the imagination of limitless possibilities, according to the judges. In the context of human-oriented structures, this work realizes the meaning of dimensions of space. It releases itself from the limitation of the flat X and Y plane and adds a third Z-axis, which allows endless room for imagining the future.

Net Guard

Designers Diao Hao-Ming, Liu Xiang, Li Hao-Hua, Zhu NanTong, Li Guo-Yu and Hu Zhen-Yuan from China won Best Design under Product Category with Net Guard, a high-altitude rescue drone. The autonomous, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is powered by four drones and fitted with a safety net that can be deployed in cases of emergencies such as fires in high-rise buildings. Equipped with a distress signal sensor, the vehicle can fly to the accident zone, locate persons in danger, and transport them to safety. The judges pointed out that the product possesses high social responsibility element and good potential for future development. Difficult access adds to the challenges of rescue operations not only in high-rises but also at sea and in the mountains. Although the technology requires further development, the proposal is one that merits attention and effort.