Design excellence awards show top local innovation

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6 October 2004 News

South African product designers can compete with the best in the world. This was evident when top product designs were showcased at the 'disa South African Design Excellence Award' ceremony held recently at Gallagher Estate. The 16 winning products were exhibited at the Franchise and Business Opportunities Exhibition.

The award scheme, formerly known as the SABS Design Awards, has evolved and enlarged and is now called the disa South African Design Excellence Awards. The Design Institute, a division of the SABS, is the driving force behind design excellence in the country and has been presenting these awards since 1969.

The winning products represent a number of categories, ranging from engineering, education, home and office ware, sport, electronics and healthcare. The winners include amongst others, the Solaraid Battery Recharger, using solar power for charging hearing aid batteries, Earglove Bluesport, a bluetooth mobile phone headset, Proaim, a golf training aid and the Vesto stove, a highly innovative, low-cost, biomass burning stove.

The Earglove Bluesport from Readymade, and designed by Tasos Calantzis, Frederick Kruger, Dieter Chelius and Marcial Villaverde, is a Bluetooth mobile phone headset that can be used either in the car or the office. Bluetooth radio circuitry eliminates the need for connecting wires and the product is innovative in that it has a microphone boom that can fold away for storage. The boom is made from a composite of Acetal and rubber that makes it flexible.

The headset charges via a fire-wire port, which means that future developments could include using the handset as a Bluetooth adapter for a personal computer. The functions are grouped in a five-button layout, which is intuitive and easy to use.

For more information contact Patiwe Booi of the Design Institute, +27 (0)73 215 6203, or Readymade, +27 (0)12 643 0996.

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