On the evening of February 28th (iF design award night 2014), award-winning companies and designers from 

around the world gathered at BMW Welt in Munich to attend the award ceremony. 

I felt an inexplicable sense of unfamiliarity and loneliness on site. Because in a gathering of more than 1000 people, 

the voice of the Chinese people is really very low.

On site, two things inspired me greatly. One was the short film at the beginning of the award ceremony, 

which recorded the process of 49 design judges from around the world judging 4615 design works in Hanover. 

In a huge exhibition hall in Hanover, various products are neatly arranged, ranging from giant cars, mechanical devices, 

and pencil like small products. The products are divided into 17 categories for judges to review one by one, creating a stunning scene. At the beginning, 

Mr. Fritz Frenker, the chairman of the judging panel and former director of frogdesign Asia Design Center, said, 

"Whether it's a big product or a small product, whether it's well-known or unknown, the iF judging panel treats everyone equally 

This short film is inspiring for all participants on the scene, from which we can feel the preciseness and norms of German people.

Another thing was that at the award ceremony, the organizers built a long wall filled with the names of award-winning manufacturers and design agencies. 

The main function of the wall is for award winners to find their design agency name and take a photo as a souvenir. 

When I was searching for the name of my design agency, I accidentally came across the names of several design industry stars

such as Philippe Starck and Yves Behar (fuseproject), who made the iF Design Awards game even more exciting.

The business operation model of iF is very clear: the entry fee for the Product Design Award is 450 euros, 

and the entry fees for the Packaging Design Award and Communication Design Award are also 250 euros. In addition, 

after winning the Product Design Award and Packaging Design Award, an additional 2600 euros need to be paid for the authorized use of the iF logo, 

exhibition and printing promotion of the award-winning products. These were clearly communicated before the competition. 

I personally do not reject legitimate commercialization at all, and what I have seen through this competition has made me more respectful of the fact 

that many world-renowned design agencies and companies participate in this event year after year. Not only can they gain global recognition through

the iF Design Award, but the use of the iF logo can also make products more marketable. 

I think this is the real purpose of the continuous participation of design agencies and companies.

Many people have heard of the iF Design Award, but are unaware of its subdivisions. Here, 

I would like to focus on the iF concept design award. This is another design competition mainly aimed at design students and graduates in school. 

The competition time and product design award are different. Participants do not need to submit physical objects. 

iF not only waives the registration fee for this competition, but also sets a certain prize money. 

The iF product design award is aimed at design agencies and manufacturing companies around the world. In addition to submitting design drafts,

participants also need to submit real products that have been mass-produced. The difference in award criteria also creates a certain difference

in the value of the iF Concept Design Award and the iF Product Design Award. But in recent years,

I have seen many people deliberately confuse and exaggerate the iF Concept Design Award in their commercial promotion.

Among all the award-winning works of the 2014 iF Design Award, 75 works were awarded the GOLD (Gold Award), including 50 iF Product Design Awards, 

20 iF Communication Design Awards, and 5 iF Packaging Design Awards. These 75 Gold Awards are truly the Oscars of industrial design. 

I carefully watched the award process of each GOLD (Gold Award) on site and found that there were almost no design agencies from China, 

the only one I saw was Nokia Beijing Design Center, while Japan frequently appeared. Since I came back, I have been thinking about this question. 

Why Chinese people are so quiet on this stage? I think in addition to design, there is also a major reason for manufacturing process. 

We need to work hard not only in design, but also in implementing design into every aspect of manufacturing in order to gradually change this situation. 

Through this year's competition, I have gained the message that the overall global design trend is moving towards simplification, 

daring to break through the framework of existing products, and innovation is the direction that design has always pursued.