The people have spoken, and selected PackH2O as the winner of the 2013 People’s Design Award, announced by presenter Todd Oldham at the Cooper-Hewitt‘s National Design Awards ceremony and gala held last night in New York. Designed and manufactured by Greif, the water backpack—a life-changing alternative to buckets and jerry cans designed to carry water home—takes its place alongside past winners including Design Matters, Trek’s Lime Bike, and Toms Shoes.
“Our goal is to ease the daily burden of water transport for women and children, enable fast, high-volume emergency relief and provide simple, affordable micro-business opportunities,” say the team behind Columbus, Ohio-based PackH2O, which bested a slate of 20 nominated works, ranging from popular apps to medical devices, that emphasize how innovative design can make a difference in daily life.
It’s National Design Week, and tonight the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will celebrate the winners of the 2013 National Design Awards with a ceremony and dinner at Pier Sixty in New York. Special guests including Tom Wolfe, Al Gore, and Kurt Andersen will be on hand to present the winners with their coveted glass asterisks, while the delightful Todd Oldham will announce the winner of this year’s People’s Design Award. We sent writer Nancy Lazarus to the National Design Awards Winners’ Panel, held at Parsons The New School for Design.
Richard Saul Wurman (center) moderates a discussion among NDA winners. Pictured from left, Tiya Gordon, Paula Scher, Gadi Amit, and Mike Femia. (Photos: Angela Jimenez)
Four of this year’s National Design Award winners appeared at a Tuesday evening panel moderated by Richard Saul Wurman, TED founder and 2012 lifetime achievement award winner. Topics encompassed winners’ early career experiences, current projects, and the award’s impact. Below are selected comments from each winning designer or firm.
Paula Scher, principal at Pentagram (communications design): • “It’s a big deal that the U.S. government honors design, and it’s important to society. If the accolade is a seal of approval, that’s fantastic, but the next day, business is still business.” • “At Pentagram we’re independent minded designers, there are no strategists. We establish direct client relationships using analogies and entertainment.” • “With my hobby, large-scale paintings of maps, I use information to create the spirit of a place. It’s the antidote to my design life where I create corporate communications identities.” • “During my earlier experience creating graphic design for music covers/albums, I learned about the relationship with the public. My work at Pentagram is still largely connected to entertainment, and much of the identity work is focused on making design accessible.” continued…
News: the winners of the 2013 Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Awards have been announced, with Chicago-based collective Studio Gang Architects taking the prize for architecture.
New Jersey Performing Arts Center facade by Pentagram
James Vines, founder and president of New York-based architecture studio SITE, was awarded the Lifetime Achievement prize for his work on environmentally-conscious buildings, interiors and public spaces.
The Corporate & Institutional Achievement award was given to TED, the nonprofit organisation whose online TED Talks on topics ranging from augmented reality to how to tie shoelaces surpassed one billion views in 2012.
Silk dress by Behnaz Sarafpour
Architect and urbanist Michael Sorkin picked up the Design Mind award, while the Graphic Design prize was given to Paula Scher, a principal at design consultancy Pentagram, whose work includes the typographical decoration on the facade of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
The Fashion Design award was won by Behnaz Sarafpour, who has collaborated with Target, Lancôme and Earnest Sewn and had her clothes exhibited at the V&A in London and the Fashion Institute of Technology’s museum in New York.
Fitbit activity tracker by NewDealDesign
Joshua Aidlin and David Darling of Aidlin Darling Design won in the Interior Design category, while media design firm Local Projects, which specialises in work for museums and public spaces, took the Interaction Design prize.
Margie Ruddick won the Landscape Architecture award for her work on projects including New York’s Queens Plaza and Trenton Capital Park on the Delaware River, while NewDealDesign, a San Francisco studio whose work includes the Fitbit wearable activity tracker, picked up the Product Design award.
The Cooper Hewitt has just announced the finalists and winners of this years National Design Awards. The so-called Oscars of Design. Peak hear to see the selections.
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The people have spoken, and selected PackH2O as the winner of the 2013 People’s Design Award, announced by presenter Todd Oldham at the Cooper-Hewitt‘s National Design Awards ceremony and gala held last night in New York. Designed and manufactured by Greif, the water backpack—a life-changing alternative to buckets and jerry cans designed to carry water home—takes its place alongside past winners including Design Matters, Trek’s Lime Bike, and Toms Shoes.
