SEATTLE, WA – (Marketwire – June, 25 2010) – Artefact, a Seattle-based design consultancy, today announced it has been recognized for their outstanding work by The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) in the 2010 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) competition. Of the 407 finalists from 29 countries, Artefact received two silver awards for Impact: Efficiency for the Smart Grid and Sonos Controller CR200, and two bronze awards for Panasonic neXperience: An In-Flight Entertainment Concept and John L. Scott Website and Application Concept. Artefact was also recognized as a finalist for The Wall: A Next Generation Retail Experience. The awards are featured in the July/August issue of Fast Company.
The 2010 IDEA jury focused on eight areas of design excellence: innovation; benefit to the user; benefit to society and natural ecology; benefit to the client; visual appeal and appropriate aesthetics; usability testing, rigor and reliability for the design research category; and internal factors, methods and implementation for the design strategy category.
“It is a great honor to see Artefact’s work being recognized by such a prestigious award program in the design industry,” said Gavin Kelly, principal and co-founder of Artefact. “We aim to develop new technology solutions that improve people’s lives. Our work with these clients has enabled us to do that.”
The silver award winning Impact system is one of two concepts Artefact developed in partnership with full-service product development consultancy Carbon. Artefact and Carbon designed a series of design concepts that help consumers improve their residential energy efficiency by exposing and managing consumption in encouraging ways. The system includes common household appliances that help raise awareness, inform decisions, provide motivation for change, and provide new capabilities without adding extra effort or inconvenience. Concepts leverage the capabilities of the “smart grid” – a revolutionary upgrade to today’s antiquated residential power grid.
The Sonos Controller CR200 also received a silver award. The Sonos Controller CR200 is a touch screen remote control for the Sonos Multi-Room Music System, a wireless music system. Products called “ZonePlayers” are placed in each room of the house where a user wants to play music. The user can then control what music plays in each room using a handheld Sonos Controller. The same music can be played in all the zones at the same time, or different music can be played in different rooms or any combination of rooms. Artefact collaborated with Sonos to develop the concepts that led to this interactive product experience.
The Panasonic neXperience concept (previously known as FlightPath) for Panasonic Avionics received a bronze award and is another concept developed in partnership with Carbon. Artefact and Carbon collaborated with Panasonic Avionics to develop an in-flight entertainment experience embedded in the touch display of airplane seat backs. neXperience integrates relevant trip information with entertainment in delightful, interactive and novel ways. It provides airline passengers with a three-dimensional, touch-based software experience that enables them to travel virtually between destinations for information.
The John L. Scott website and application concept for John L. Scott real estate also received a bronze award. The concept enables real estate buyers, sellers, and agents to more easily navigate the residential buying and selling process. The website and application bring together information from multiple sources and provide buyers and sellers with sophisticated tools for finding, storing, organizing, and analyzing real estate information as well as sharing it with others. The concepts create a more unified experience and foster a collaborative relationship between the sellers, buyers and agents.
Additionally, Artefact received finalist recognition for its conceptual development work on The Wall: A Next Generation Retail Experience for Snowboard Connection. The Wall is a concept aimed at the retail industry for implementing new technology that complements the in-store and online shopping experiences. Some of the next generation concepts incorporated in The Wall include: how mobile and wireless technology will enter into the shopping experience, how customers will interact with merchandise and technology in physical stores and online, bridges that will connect mobile, online and in-store shopping experiences and how retailers can innovate with respect to their customer base.
Media Contact
Ken Fry
Artefact
ken@artefactgroup.com