Silver Medal at ‘IDEA 2012’ and Bronze Medal at ‘Spark Design Awards’
Displayed at IDSA International Conference and Exhibited Permanently at the 'Henry Ford Museum'
[Jul 25, 2012]

 An undergraduate student at YU won awards at the top two design awards of the US.

 Yang, Joon-won (25, photo), a senior at the YU Department of Industrial and Interaction Design, won the silver medal at 'IDEA 2012' (International Design Excellence Awards 2012) hosted by the US IDSA(Industrial Designers Society of America) and the bronze medal at the 'Spark Design Awards'.

 The IDEA international design contest is one of the world's top three industrial design contests. The three major design awards that lead the global industrial design trends are the US IDEA, Singapore's Reddot Design Awards, and Germany's iF (International Forum) Design Awards.

 IDEA is being held in the first half of every year since 1980 in order to help business and the public better understand just how important the quality of designs are in the quality of life and the economy. Judges focus on creativity, artistry, eco-friendliness, business feasibility, and problem-solving abilities. Awarded pieces are displayed on the IDEA online gallery and America's top industrial design portal site, 'Core77' (www.core77.com), which is an annual publication of IDSA.

 The gold medal winning work and the silver medal winning work are displayed on the IDSA International Conference that will be held in Boston in August. In addition, it will be permanently placed on display at the Henry Ford Museum in Greenfield Village of Dearborn, Michigan, United States. Henry Ford, known as 'the King of the Automobile', successfully popularized the 'Ford Model T' and pioneered today's automobile industry.

 Over 10,000 pieces competed in this year's contest. With professional and aspiring designers all over the world participating in the event, Yang won second place among students with 'Easy to Press'. 'Easy to Press' uses the lever principle to design thumbtacks that have new uses. It was judged to have made a revolution for existing thumbtacks.

 Yang's 'Easy to Press' also won the bronze medal at the US 'Spark Awards'. The 'Spark Awards' are also opened to professional and amateur and student designers around the world, and it is a world-class design contest sponsored by companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Autodesk.

 Yang, Joon-won, said, "I was highly interested in creating 'better harmony' in everyday life" and added, "I prepared this design thinking that even a small item like a thumbtack can be completely changed. I am happy to have great results. I will not give upon my efforts to create more comfortable and more beautiful designs by looking at everyday items from a different perspective."