Mac mini, shuffle Take Gold in 2005 Best Product Design Awards

by , 2:00 AM EDT, June 27th, 2005

Apple Computer's Mac mini and the iPod shuffle told first place gold in this year's Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEAS), with the Airport Express receiving a second place silver recognition.

The competition, sponsored by Business Week magazine and the Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA), gave a total of three awards to Apple and its head designer, Jonathan Ive. Over the last five years, Apple has amassed a total of 17 awards, second to Samsung with 19 titles among corporations.

Judges called the Mac mini's "streamlined aesthetics" as "perfectly complement (to) Apple’s existing product line." IDSA judge Tucker Viemeister called Apple the leading producer designer in the world, "continuing to hammer away at both bad design and fluffy design. Their design philosophy is getting close the ultimate 'less is more.'"

IDSA judge Pierre-Yves Panis said the shuffle's simplicity "comes from drastically narrowing our choices (or making them for us). We get to give up the responsibility of having to navigate and choose and with that comes freedom and lightness. Calm."

The Apple Mac mini, which was announced in January, took a first place gold award in the 2005 Industrial Design Excellence Awards.

JBL and Harman Multimedia took a second place silver award among computer equipment for the design of its OnStage iPod docking and speaker system. "OnStage’s design language also complements all iPods," the judges concluded. "Much research went into devising the means to generate high-performance sound from such a small device, including the placement of the radial driver as well as the interplay of the ring shape to the table, which specifically enhances the base."

The winners were announced in the July 4 edition of Business Week.