Chen Xiaochun

654789759@qq.com

THEMED “Design Drives [Knowledge] Drives Design,” the Shenzhen International Industrial Design Fair (SZIDF) 2018 will kick off Monday and run through Wednesday in Hall 2 of Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, according to a press conference held at Sino-Finnish Design Park on Thursday.

“This is the sixth session of our industrial design fair. Shenzhen industrial design actually stands for China’s industrial design, and SZIDF stands witness to the efforts that we have made. Over the past 10 years, we have achieved our goal of getting the world to see the design in China. In the following 10 years, we hope Chinese design can become influential in the global design community,” said Feng Changhong, executive vice president and secretary general of the Shenzhen Industrial Design Profession Association (SIDA).

SZIDF focuses on cutting-edge international design and its changing trends, and aims at modern industrial design innovation. It will showcase all aspects of the value chain of the design and innovation industries through an array of events including exhibitions, forums, product launches, business meetings and The Great One Awards selection.

“This year the organizing committee has launched The Great One, which is a new sub-brand of SZIDF. The Great One aims to encourage innovation, strength and uniqueness, which will add value and raise awareness for all enterprises,” said Paul Cohen, CEO and design director of Cube Design as well as one of the most famous jurors of iF International Forum.

The Great One Awards include five categories, namely Best of the Best, Innovative Design, Best in Show, Design Entrepreneur Award and Gadget Design Award. According to Cohen, the candidates are expected to have fresh innovations, clear corporate values and contributions to the industrial design industry. The assessment will be based on innovation, quality, function, aesthetics, market potential and originality.

The fair has attracted 175 exhibitors from overseas and seven international pavilions from six countries, including France Design Pavilion, Denmark Design Pavilion, Holland Design Pavilion, Italian Design Pavilion, Korea Institute of Design Promotion and Spark Design Awards.

Many products will make their debut in China during the fair, including the intelligent landmark loudspeaker BeoLab 90 by Bang & Olufsen and the first ever digital weight training system featuring interactive video workouts, Tonal Strength Training System.

The Global Design Value Summit will be held at the same time, gathering the founder of Frog Design, Hartmut Esslinger, the father of Lean Design, Sandy Munro, president and CEO of GK Design Group, Kazuo Tanaka, founder of Favaretto & Partners, Paolo Favaretto, president of World Design Organization, Luisa Bocchietto, and CEO of iF International Forum Design GmbH, Ralph Wiegmann.

Another highlight of the fair is that there will be two curatorial teams, one Chinese and one foreign. Troels Seidenfaden, founder and creative director of Seidenfaden Design Consultancy, designed the theme and concept of the fair, while the Chinese team focused on visual communication.

SZIDF was granted the status of “UFI Approved International Event” by the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry (UFI) in May 2018.

The fair is being hosted by the Shenzhen Municipal Government, organized by SIDA and co-organized by the China Industrial Design Association and China Mechanical Engineer Society Industrial Design Institution.