¡®iF design award.CHINA¡® at CeBIT Asia 2003 ¡ª iF opens its first competition for Asian market

iF International Forum Design is launching its first-ever iF design award in China. The competition, organized under the label of the ¡®iF design award.CHINA¡® is set to receive a freshly developed, iF-specific corporate identity in cooperation with Deutsche Messe AG and its Chinese subsidiary Hannover Fairs China Ltd. Prizewinning entries will be displayed at CeBIT Asia from September 18-21 at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center.

iF and the iF design award are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year: five decades of excellent design at the Hannover Exhibition Center, where some 20,000 products from over 3,400 international enterprises have been selected for awards ¨C including products from Asia as well as those intended for the Asian market. To do justice to the growing significance of the role of design in China, iF is now offering its ¡®iF design award.CHINA¡® This competition is geared to all manufacturers and designers who are active on the Chinese market and for whom design goes far beyond the simple exterior.

The iF design award.CHINA, which also enjoys the support of the Shenzen Profound Consulting Co. Ltd., not only offers manufacturers a chance to put their products up against the international competition and emphasize design as one of the key characteristics of a leading-edge, economically successful enterprise. More importantly, it aims to promote the very concept of design, as communicated by iF through its iF design award, among a broad and interested Chinese public. It is not a product¡¯s exterior, but its overall design and function that will occupy center stage here. Sustainability and deliberation in product design ¡ª especially in rapidly growing markets ¡ª are only two of the core aspects of major relevance to the iF design award and the iF design award.CHINA.

Eligible for the competition are manufacturers and designers whose products are sold on the Chinese market. An independent panel of judges consisting of five internationally respected designers will decide on the successful winners of an iF design award.CHINA, based on a fixed catalog of evaluation criteria. The announcement and acknowledgement of prizewinners will take place during opening day of CeBIT Asia, on September 18, 2003, at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Center. The judging panel also has the option of conferring several ¡®Top Selection¡® prizes on the most outstanding products.

amy.xu@hfchina.com