Clip Me from Germany, a USB drive that can be clipped onto paper, was awarded the red dot award: design concept in 2009 and a year later, went on to win the red dot: best of the best in the product design award!

This is just one example, says Ken Koo, Asia President of the red dot design award, of past winning ideas that have been successfully brought to market.

Clip Me (Germany): Concept received the red dot: best of the best in 2009; product won the red dot: best of the best in 2010.

“Commercial success of design concepts that won the red dot is an important indicator of the success of the award. It shows the seriousness of the work that are submitted to the award and it shows how winning a red dot can add value to a good design concept,” says Ken, who highlights the fact that the winning batch of 2010 had the highest number of commercialised concepts since the award’s inception.

Sirius Breast Cancer Scanner (Singapore): Won a red dot in 2009, has now completed successful clinical trials and is ready for the market.

Mobile Tail (South Korea): Concept won a red dot in 2010. Subsequently developed and sold out quickly at Singapore’s Museum Shop.

Initiated in 2005 from Singapore, the design concept award was added to the already established international red dot competition to give recognition to pre-production ideas and serve as a barometer of product trends, as well as answer increasing enquiries from designers and companies looking to submit their design concepts.

“It fills the gap for design professionals, design schools and companies that focus on design to have an opportunity to benchmark their research and development for future products against the best in the world; to lead and stand out with the quality of their innovation and creativity,” says Ken.

Last year, participants included 164 companies and 75 universities.

Winners from last year: Hamidreza Alavizadeh, Kourosh Mahdavi, Soheyl Ghiami, and Elmira Cheraghi from Iran

Ken Koo, Asia President of the red dot design award.

On the choice of Singapore as a location for an office outside of Germany and to initiate the award, Ken says that it was part of red dot’s deliberate efforts to make this “the first truly international design award”.

Singapore was selected because “it is highly developed, it is politically and culturally neutral, supportive of design, strong in research, and has a strong intellectual property rights protection regime”, says Ken, adding that its location “right in the heart of Asia” where “rapid design mutation and innovation” is foreseen were also important factors.

Prof. Dr. Zec giving the certificate to Maurizio Maiorana from Italy

As proof of its internationalisation efforts, the red dot design award today sees entries from at least 60 different countries, and features a highly international jury.

This year, the red dot design award will also allow entries to be submitted not just in English, but also in German, Mandarin and Korean.

“This is another step towards making the award truly international because we recognise design is practiced throughout the world, in different markets, culture and language,” says Ken.

Visit red-dot.sg/concept/index.htm to enter for the red dot award: design concept.