UNIST Recognized for Design Excellence at Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design 2021!

A design team, led by Professor Yunwoo Jeong in the Department of Design at UNIST has once again been recognized for design excellence, both locally and abroad. The team announced that their new product design concept has been awarded a ‘2021 Red Dot Award‘ in the Brands & Communication Design category.

The team has been given this honor in recognition of their design excellence in a recent academic-industrial cooperation project. In collaboration with Generalgraphics Corp. and Artplace Corp., they worked on a brand design for Teafferance, a new skincare line of South Korean skincare brand ISOI.

The winning design, Teafferance is a premium brand of tea and cosmetics, launched in May 2021. Throughout the project, Professor Jeong and his design team worked on improving the brand image for Teafferance by managing the whole stages of its product design.

Teafference bottle design l Image Credit: Red Dot Design Award Homepage

The above skincare bottle design conveys the brand message, which focuses on the beneficial effects of purple tea, grown in Kenya, for skin and health. The T-shaped figure on top of the bottle embodies the scent spreading from the lower part of the bottle. Besides, the container is made of brown glass that is 100% recyclable, and the lid is also made of eco-friendly plastics, adding to the value of carbon-neutral and environment-friendly initiatives. Product designers executed this idea and turned it into an actual product. In May, the company opened a flagship store to provide an opportunity for customers to experience the brand and appreciate their artworks.

The Red Dot Design Award, known as one of the world’s top three design awards, has been held since 1955. This year, about 7,800 artworks were exhibited in roughly 60 countries, and 50 design experts conducted a blind evaluation.

* Teafference Homepage – Introduction to Teafference Products
* Teafference Seoul Location: 61 Donhwamun-ro, Myo-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Such accomplishments also shone brightly locally. Professor Jeong and his design team received high praise at the ‘2021 Industry-Academia Project Challenge,’ held by the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy, and thus won the Minister’s Prize.

Professor Jeong’s team was the only design team that was given the Minister’s prize, this year. For the second consecutive year, UNIST Design Department produced teams that won the Minister’s Prize. This achievement is a direct result of the Professional Human Resource Training Project for the Convergence of New Technology, led by Professor Hui Sung Lee.

Professor Yunwoo Jeong’s team has been given the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Award at the ‘2021 Industry-Academia Project Challenge’ competition. Such achievement is a direct result of the Professional Human Resource Training Project for the Convergence of New Technology, led by Professor Hui Sung Lee (Top right).

The award-winning product is the ‘911$ Rescue Drone,’ designed by team Disegno T9 in collaboration with Drone Dom Co., Ltd. The 911$ Rescue Drone is a flying stretcher, designed for a range of emergency situations. This rescue drone is equipped with an emergency stretcher bed, along with the compact size ‘8 Propellers’ and the wired battery packs. The special design and function of the rescue drone offer to extract and carry patients efficiently with much less manpower, compared to existing emergency stretchers.

Indeed, the compact size propellers allow you to enter and exit very narrow, wooded, and rugged areas. Besides, this rescue drone has a follow-me feature, capable of guiding it along the wire connected to the battery pack that the rescuer carries with him. Replaceable batteries are placed outside to reduce the weight of the stretcher and increase flight time.

911$ Rescue Drone by Professor Yunwoo Jeong’s design team l Image Credit: Professor Yunwoo Jeong

Professor Jeong’s team and Drone Dom Co., Ltd. continue working diligently together to help commercialize the 911$ Rescue Drone by discovering related patents and winning awards at international design competitions.

Meanwhile, this competition has been held to evaluate the recent achievements of UNIST graduate students who recently participated in the Industrial Innovation Talent Growth Support Project by the Korea Institute for Advancement of Technology (KIAT). A total of 301 teams (666 individuals) participated in 33 fields, such as semiconductors, AI, and robots. Only 66 teams advanced to the final round, and 10 teams each were given the Minister of Trade, Industry, and Energy Award (Excellent), and the KIAT President’s Award (Best).