IDEA Awards Bronze Prize to Two Product Design Alumni Who Look Towards A Future of Inclusive Design

The prestigious International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) acknowledges student projects by two Product Design alumni who appreciate the future and inclusivity of product design as they both received the Bronze Prize.

After four decades of excellence, IDEA is one of the longest running, most prestigious design awards programs, and most anticipated annual awards competition in the world. It recognizes exceptional achievement in industrial design, and it’s grown to highlight design in other disciplines, including design strategy, branding, digital interaction, and more. 

Taylor Spencer (‘22) created “Boost” a hearing aid for a younger generation of consumers to improve the current hearing technology and destigmatize the look and feel of hearing aids. It’s designed with the standard hearing-aid components like an amplifier, microphone, battery, and receiver with additional technology such as a bluetooth device connection, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and language translation.

“To me, this award recognizes the presence and importance of inclusivity and emotion in design,” Spencer said. “That is specifically an area of industrial design I became passionate about during my time at CCS and continue to pursue. I hope it shines a light on the power products have to positively influence user confidence and behavior. As a designer, I think a lot of products—real or concept—are beautiful. But to achieve something greater through beauty are the products that really inspire me, and that was the initial goal for this project.”

Vidit Singh (‘22) created “Embrace 2025,” a vision for the future of the medical footwear industry. “Embrace” is a speculative design approach for enhanced mobility for children with foot equinus, a common condition found in those with cerebral palsy. It uses an adaptive smart brace to stimulate muscles during imbalanced movement while facilitating natural gait through a posture-controlled mechanism. “Embrace” came to be through a collaboration project during COVID lockdowns in 2020, so Singh, who was virtually attending CCS from India, also collaborated with another student who was in Japan, a mentor who was in Germany, and a doctor from Egypt—making the design process unique.

“This award feels like a blessing to me,” Singh said. “Seven years ago, thinking of doing footwear design as a career was the scariest thing for me coming from India with no guidance or path to follow. I had to find my own way into footwear design, which led me to a lot of great people and mentors who helped me figure out that path along the way, while being in various creative environments at PENSOLE and CCS. I could learn and grow as a creative person, which led me to think beyond just footwear for celebrities and athletes to the future of the medical and healthcare industry.” 

IDEA recognizes products and services that encourage, inspire, and push the industry, honoring the great design that brings real benefit to users, clients, and society. Participants are judged by a jury who uses a list of five criteria: design innovation, benefit to user, benefit to client/brand, benefit to society, and aesthetics.