Business 2.0 has announced the award winners in The First Annual Bottom Line Design Awards…
Good design is nice to look at, but great design exhibits beauty that’s more than skin-deep — it integrates form, function, and market need. The best place to see the latter, of course, is the bottom line, which is why we created the first industrial design awards to honor products not just for their beauty but also for their commercial success. In conjunction with the venerable Silicon Valley strategic design firm Frog Design, we assembled a panel of nine expert judges — from industries as diverse as advertising, fashion, and technology — who were asked to consider everything from a product’s success in the marketplace to its impact on a corporate culture. And, of course, how nice it was to look at. Here are their picks for the year’s best-designed products.
The LiveStrong Wristband from the Lance Armstrong Foundation took the “Grand Prize” award.
In the “Personal Computers” category, Apple Computer won the prize with the iMac G5:
“One in five Americans under 30 now owns a portable MP3 player, thanks largely to the success of the iPod. But 96 percent of computer users still have PCs. Not wanting to squander a drop of the iPod’s power as a crossover product, Apple created a desktop computer in the iPod’s image that’s likely to be seen by a much wider audience. It then spoke to that audience by pointedly marketing the flat-panel iMac G5 as “from the creators of iPod,” capitalizing on the cool factor. With 15 of its iconic designs now included in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection, Apple has adopted as its core value the idea that high style isn’t reserved for lamps and armchairs. This iMac reinforces rather than changes the company’s direction, but cramming a powerful G5 processor into a slim space proves that minimalism can make high technology more human and easy to approach,” Monica Khemsurov writes. “Bottom line: Apple sold 337,000 G5s in its first quarter, doubling iMac unit sales and increasing the division’s revenue by 147 percent.”
Steve Jobs must be very proud because in the “Media” category, Pixar’s “The Incredibles” won.
Direct link to Apple’s iMac G5 page here.
Direct link to Pixar’s “The Incredibles” page here.
Start of full article here.
steve is cool
Boy, the insightful analyses are really pouring in today.
Is Steve cool or the people working for/with him?
Steve is cool. Trust me, I’ve partied with him. Yeh-heh-hessssss. Way cooler than Gates. When I stayed at Gates house I thought the Xbox games and the mini pizza rolls would never stop coming. No really, at Steve’s place he put the kids to bed and we partied hard. And Laurene was quite the hostess. She even went topless in de hot tub. Oh, yeh-heh-hesss. Quite a sight. And she’s much more fun to party with than Gates’ wife. Seriously, Melinda was always “don’t touch this” and “that’s Bill’s favorite, don’t touch it” and “you want to eat MORE?” and on and on. It was tiring. No, I keed. I keed the Gates man and his wife.
No, really — at one point I just pooped on her and left.
The iMac is best for the bottom line. It makes the bigwigs happy.
I own The iMac 17″ and I must agree. It is as beautiful as it is powerful. I recomend one for everybody. And Triumph you are right. Gates’ wife is a stick in the mud. Or was that stick in the FUD, I always get that wrong.
Are there really 15 Apple products on show at the Museum of Modern Art? Thats Amazing!