When we travel, we usually go to museums and see a glimpse
of the past. For a change, how about
visiting a museum about the present – which could show us a window to the
future?
 |
| Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore |
There’s this museum in Singapore called the Red Dot Design Museum
which houses the winning items from the Red Dot Awards. The Red Dot Award is known for challenging
designers, engineers, inventors, professionals and students when it comes to
the fundamentals of product design which are then screened by an international
jury. The award originated in Germany in 1954.
It's been in existence for 60 years and yet my first exposure to Red Dot Awards was just a couple of years back when I bought an Ozaki iPad case which had a
sticker that says “Red Dot Design Awardee”. Aesthetically, Ozaki iPad
cases are really nice - great colors and the cover has debossed (opposite
of embossed) iconic images from popular cities and countries around the
world. But the main reason why I like
Ozaki cases is because it could hold your iPad in a portrait and landscape
orientation with great stability.
 |
| Ozaki iPad case |
But visiting the Red Dot Museum was super fascinating. Apparently, the Red Dot Awards cover a whole
slew of categories – not just gadgets and accessories, but as well as
appliances, packaging, vehicles, fixtures, bags, furniture, name it.
Here are some of the items which piqued my curiosity:
This is not your ordinary Foosball.
It's a Foosball that is made entirely from carton!
Utensils made in the shape of tree twigs to evoke the feeling of naturalism.
Can you guess what these are? They are flower-shaped hand showers.
 |
| Nubone Supplements |
Don’t the food look yummy? They are actually pet supplements! Haha…. The packaging is plastic-free, recyclable and the
design immediately communicates what the flavour is to the buyer – whether it’s beef,
chicken, veggies or salmon. Lucky pets! Haha…
 |
| Missing you Honey Bee Hand Cream by Etude |
The packaging is in the shape of bees because they were made for a campaign
for the protection of bees. The
materials used for the containers and outer box were made from recyclable/recycled
materials and using soy-based ink.
Vaccum-sealed burlap envelope for rice. The sender’s name reflects the Taiwanese rice producer. And notice the stamp - it's the photo of a ricefield. The packaging could easily be used for gift-giving too. How unique for a rice packaging.
 |
| Wall made from PET bottles |
PET bottles could be recycled but they could also be used as instant building materials for temporary housing or small-scale structures.
 |
| Close up shot of the wall of PET bottles |
This is a centralized digital
dashboard so you'll know the status of all your electrical appliances and be able to control the settings. Imagine, years from now, this could be our standard electrical dashboard at home. :)
 |
| Hexskin |
This is a bandage with healing properties that dissolves in your
skin. The concept sounds so futuristic to me like it were from a sci-fi movie. But guess what? The technology is already here.
An alphabet-based watch. Press a button when you want to know the time and the letters would light up on what time is it.
A 3D decorative fabric. See the 3D cubes?
 |
| Hygrometer for Plants |
Just stick it directly into the pot and you’ll know when to water the
plant depending on the color of the
hygrometer.
 |
| Puzzle Ring |
This is a jewelry and game rolled into one. Every time you put it on or take it off, you have to put together the 8 pieces. The last piece you put on is the locking mechanism to make sure the ring doesn’t fall apart while it’s worn.
The Red Dot museum has also a store which sells some of the
past Red Dot Awardees. Here are some:
 |
| Senz S Umbrellas |
These are wind-proof umbrellas. They have a demo video to show windproof they are. :)
Beautifully-designed necklaces. They have wooden brooches and enamel cufflinks too.
And if you like papercraft, you might like these. They are called Architectural Model Accessories. The item is just like the size of a bookmark or greeting card.
With it, you could create a miniature Christmas setting like this -
They also have an autumn setting -
Super nice!
Anyway, if things like these fascinate you as much as it fascinates me, you might want to visit the Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore. Remember, today's unique inventions could be tomorrow's ordinary objects. :)
