What's Up With Those Awards

My son just started playing orange ball tournaments and  he's really motivated by the idea of winning a medal or a trophy. I didn't want to tell him ahead of time that he could even get a medal by winning the consolation final after he lost in the first round of the main draw of his first tournament. Tennis is popular here in Texas so these orange ball tournaments draw a surprising number of kids. But sometimes there are only a couple of entries, and they still give out medals to the winner and runner up.

I don't know how many competitors there were for the design awards that the Packhopper won, but I'm just thankful that MAKO Design entered several of these contests. MAKO Design is the industrial design firm I hired to help me flesh out the concepts I originally had for the Packhopper. They're based in Toronto but they also have an office in Austin, Texas which is a fairly short drive from where I am in Waco, Texas. They have a page on their website dedicated to awards they've won recently that can be found HERE.

Of the three awards that the Packhopper won in 2020, the most impressive seems to be the Red Dot Award. As a result of winning this award, I was asked to send my first prototype to Singapore where it's been put on display at the Red Dot Museum which is located in the Marina Bay district. Apparently, "This winners' exhibition presents 229 design concepts and 53 prototypes from 33 countries." I've never been to Singapore but maybe someday I'll get to travel over there after finally catching some of the Australian Open in person. You can read more about the award HERE.

Next up, we head to Paris for the DNA Paris Design Awards. The Packhopper won Grand Prix in the category of Product Design/Sport & Leisure which you can see HERE. Apparently the Farmani Group "established the DNA Paris awards as an accolade to honor the work of international architects and designers that improve the daily lives of others through practical, beautiful, and innovative design." The Farmani Group also established the IDA (International Design Awards) and the EPDA (European Product Design Awards). You can read more about the Packhopper winning this award HERE.

The third award is another international competition called the Muse Design Awards. The Packhopper was a Gold Winner in this competition put on by the IAA (International Awards Associate). The Muse Awards "help to shine a light and inspire the design community around the world by showcasing top designs from all over the world." You can see the award HERE and read more about MAKO Design's take on it HERE.