Apple and design go together like Han Solo and Chewbacca, so we’re not exactly shocked to discover that Apple walked out of this year’s 2008 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) with three gold medals and one silver medal (maybe they should consider heading to the Olympics next).
The contest, which is sponsored by BusinessWeek, is run by the Industrial Designers Society of America and gives out awards in seventeen categories. In the past five years, Apple’s won a total of thirteen awards, second only to Samsung (which has won fifteen) in the corporation division. This year, they tied for second place among corporations for awards won, though they snagged the most golds in the entire contest.
So what caught the jury’s eyes this year? The MacBook Air, Apple Wireless Keyboard, and—naturally—the iPhone all took home top honors, while the Aluminum iMac netted a silver medal. Not too shabby. Simplicity and elegance are the watchwords of good design—which means, next year maybe they’ll grab a prize for Jony Ive’s haircut.
