Forum has designs on growth

More than 40 leading industrial design institutes presented their latest work yesterday at the China International Consumer Electronics Show (SINOCES) in Qingdao.

It was the first time an electronics trade show in China incorporated a global industrial design exhibition.

The exhibition attracted top industrial design institutes including the Industrial Designers' Society of America, Korea Institute of Design Promotion, Paris Millot Design and Germany's ID Industrial Design.

The exhibitors have all previously won international awards and worked for scores of international electronic brands. They are seeking opportunities with Chinese electronics makers through the exhibition.

China's electronics industry is running on the fast track now and SINOCES provides an ideal forum where designers at home and abroad can share their industrial design ideas, organizers said.

"The industrial design in China started later than some Western countries. We want to bring some new design ideas here," said Dina Guth, manager of Shenzhen branch of Tecatech, a British industrial design company.

"We would like to cooperate with some big electronic companies in China like Haier Group and help them promote their products to the United States and European countries," Guth added.

Mark Slaven, managing director of Insight, a design company from the United States, said: "We come here to look for customers and collect information for US or European clients who want to develop products specifically for the Chinese market. We have done market research and user research."

Up to now, about 50 manufacturers from Shanghai and Shenzhen have requested Insight to make design for their products, he added.

One of Haier's high-end referigerator models last year won IF product design award, known as the Design Oscar hosted in Germany. The award has elevated Haier's fame in German market, said Sun Mingfa, Haier's corporate culture office director.

As product design is a key consideration in consumer purchase decisions, innovative designs are instrumental to the competitiveness of electronics firms.

Novel designs not only bring manufacturers more revenue but also accelerate China's transformation from "made in China" to "created in China", industry insiders say.

(China Daily 07/11/2008 page24)