Winners of the Global Innovation Awards (gia) for product innovation and booth design will be announced at11:30 a.m. on Monday, March 17 at a special event in the Discover Design Lounge during the 2014 International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago.
Now in its fourth year, Discover Design, a Show destination and an oasis for design-savvy buyers, features more than 100 exhibitors from around the world. Along with the innovation-and-design-minded companies, Discover Design includes the Discover Design Gallery, located in booth S3283 and featuring the products submitted for the gia awards; Design Debut, an incubator program within Discover Design, featuring 10 new companies; and the Discover Design Lounge with Wine Bar and Café.
Specialty retailers, design and consumer editors, trendspotters and independent designers served as Discover Design judges for the gia awards. They are: Asko Ahokas, Asko Ahokas Consulting; Jens Bauerle, Global Brand Vision; Mary Liz Curtin, Leon & Lulu; Meredith Doherty, The Grommet; Mary Rose Gearon, Global Brand Vision; Michael Higdon, National Building Museum; Raymond Hu, Core77; Ron Kovach, Design Applause; Dan Kraemer, IA Collaborative; Lu Lyndon, Placewares+Lyndon Design; Paul Makovsky, Metropolis magazine; Marco Perry, PENSA; Jamie Rowley, Fab; Billy Shelton, Chicago Architecture Foundation; Michele Tobin, Walker Art Center; Becky Tyre, Gift Shop magazine; Robyn Waters, R W Trend; Adrienne Wheatley, Culture + Commerce, Terri Winter, Top3 by Design; and LinYee Yuan, Mold.
Design Debut offers a unique opportunity for companies and designers to present their homewares for the first time at the Show. “Once the companies experience this successful introduction to the industry, we look forward to welcoming them in Discover Design next year with a full booth presence,” says Phil Brandl, president & CEO of the International Housewares Association, which owns and operates the Show.
Exhibiting in Design Debut this year are Biodidactic, Chisel & Mouse, Culinarium, Exclusivas Saigo, Johnny Hermann, Maia Ming Designs, Manual, materious, Nicole Porter and S 2 BH.
For a complete list of exhibitors and their products, visit the Discover Design webpage at www.housewares.org/
