A cinema camera, a bike rack and a micro kitchen were among the plastics products that were singled out for winning designs in the 2015 International Design Excellence Awards.
Products with polymer content received multiple recognitions in the 35th annual contest, which is organized by the Industrial Designers Society of America in Herndon, Va.
Matthew Marzynski headed a 24-person panel of design experts that reviewed more than 1,700 entries. Marzynski is a lecturer on industrial design at the University of Washington's School of Art + Art History + Design in Seattle and previously was industrial design manager for Fluke Corp. in Everett, Wash.
Fifteen members of the panel met June 5-8 at the non-profit Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich., and named 28 gold, 53 silver and 83 bronze IDEA winners from among 621 finalists. Marc Greuther, chief curator and curator of industrial design for the Henry Ford, was a panelist.
The jury's focus was to identify excellence in design innovation, benefits to user and client, sustainability and visual appeal.
Blackmagic Design: Camera and scanner
The industrial design team of Blackmagic Design Pty. Ltd. in Melbourne, Australia won awards for its high-end Ursa digital cinema camera and its Cintel motion picture film scanner.
Blackmagic introduced the $29,995 Cintel scanner and the $5,995 Ursa camera during the National Association of Broadcasters show in April 2014 in Las Vegas.
The Cintel device can acquire real-time ultra-high-definition scans and replace expensive complex units.
Rollers of cast silicone rubber are overmolded onto a machined aluminum core. The running surface is ground to a tightly controlled run-out tolerance to ensure the rollers do not add any resonance to the smooth running of the film. The Cintel scanner has tinted acrylic doors, compression-molded polyurethane-coated silicone keys and grades of aluminum for main enclosure, deck plate, film back plates, sprockets and space-frame.
Years of market research and product development preceded introduction of the scanner. The aim was to understand the range of needs within the film scanning community and create a feature set accommodating a broad base of users including libraries and museums with fragile degrading archival film.
Blackmagic acquired Cintel International Ltd. of Ware, England, in 2012.
Among the Ursa's plastic parts are PU-coated silicon buttons, acetal polyoxymethylene door release latch, tinted acrylic light pipes and a flexible PU foam shoulder pad. Anodized aluminum is used for the main enclosure and turret module and stainless steel for the lens mount.
Ursa is designed specifically for the production of feature films, documentaries and news gathering. Blackmagic says Ursa is the world's first camera to allow users to upgrade their image sensor and lens mount, extending its life as technology evolves.
Ursa has a 10-diagonal-inch display and three intuitive work zones for a cinematographer, an audio engineer and a focus assistant.
The product puts a suite of professional film production equipment within reach of independent filmmakers at a quarter of the cost of similar products.
Logitech: Videoconference solution
Logitech Inc. group and product design studio Minimal Inc. won for the Logitech ConferenceCam Connect portable all-in-one videoconference solution for use in small and medium-sized rooms.
Logitech introduced the product in January and made it available globally in March for $499.
Soft-touch paint coats the top housing's ABS cap with in-mold texture. The bottom housing uses molded ABS on the front and back. There is a stamped thermoplastic elastomer foot and the remote's top housing consists of an ABS substrate and overmolded PU. The speakerphone fabric is polyester with over-molded polypropylene clips for assembly. The cylinder is of extruded anodized aluminum.
The product has PC and Mac compatibility for videoconferencing and mobile connectivity for screen-mirror projection through Miracast wireless technology. Windows and Android users can connect wirelessly for screen-mirror presentations, spreadsheets, videos or Internet content from a mobile device to a television screen through an HDMI connection. The ConferenceCam automatically connects to the display.
The system is designed to provide high-quality videoconferencing and audio conferencing capabilities that work with any software application such as Cisco Jabber, Skype for Business, BlueJeans, Vidyo or Zoom. The portable unit also can connect via a USB port across tablet and phone platforms. The solution is useful for ad-hoc meetings in today's anywhere workplace.
Credits go to the Logitech Inc. video collaboration group in Newark, Calif., and studio Minimal of Chicago.
Logitech Inc. is a unit of Logitech International SA of Lausanne, Switzerland.
Hurdler Studios: Bike rack