2006 Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA)

Kodak's EasyShare V570 Dual Lens digital camera, the Intelligent Energy ENV Bike, and the Bloomberg Corporate headquarters are among the winners of the Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEAs) for 2006.

The awards are presented annually by the Industrial Designers Society of America and sponsored by BusinessWeek.

For companies worldwide, design has become strategic, the very core of their efforts to differentiate what they make and do.

But is design itself becoming a commodity?

Consider this. What was once thought of as great design is now seen merely as good, what was once exceptional is now standard.

Managers everywhere are turning to rapid ethnography, usability, special materials, and aesthetics-the tools of design-to innovate. The differentiation of products and services increasingly requires a much higher level of execution.

In design, the bar is raised.

Nowhere is this so apparent as in the 2006 Industrial Design Excellence Awards.

Winning the gold this year took more design excellence than in previous years.

Jurors said that relevance and looks were just the basics for consideration.

Products needed an element of delight to win the gold.

There were fewer winners in 2006, just 108, down from 148 last year.

more: idsa.org/IDEA2006/galleries/idea/idea2006/index.ht (1,696)

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