Ok so I study business for my undergrad but Im a designer at heart. I taught myself things like Photoshop, Rhino and V-Ray. I won a few awards from my other designs, but I really want to win a Red Dot. It would look great on my resume when applying for industrial design jobs. The only issue is that the submission is expensive… around $400.
I can never tell if my designs are good or not. I made it for a startup that ended up failing. But the concept is a smart smoke detector that connects to your phone. It can alert you from anywhere of any smoke/CO and you can also conduct sensor tests and view battery levels from your phone. Anything to change? Or is it just not worth submitting to the Red Dot Design Concept Award?
I’m no expert in industrial design, but I like it a lot. It’s very elegant, and I would buy if it was affordable.
However, is it a design award winning work? I’m not sure what the criteria is for red dot, but it doesn’t seem like it stands out above the crowd in any way. It’s not original in a way that would make want to seek out this product and share it with my friends. It’s just a solid product.
Also, from a practical standpoint, don’t you need the product to be real to be submitted to an industrial design award?
The design and renderings look nice, but I’d question the black ring. My hunch is that most consumers want their smoke detector to blend in rather than stand out. The black ring, while it looks cool in the renderings, makes it stand out.
As to whether or not it stands a chance in an industrial award competition, I’m not that familiar with ID competitions or what judges are looking for. Again, your renderings are nice looking and, again, this is my hunch, but I’d say that the design of this is not radically different enough from a standard smoke detector, visually at least, to make this stand out in a competition. Based on that, I’d save my $400.
All of that said, maybe someone else here is more familiar with ID and what judges are looking for than I am.
Not only do people like their smoke detectors to blend in, they like them low profile. Your’s looks thicker than a Roomba. Is it meant to sit on a table and take up space? Or is it meant to be ceiling mounted? If ceiling mounted, maybe you need to show it that way?
It also kinda looks like a squash Apple desktop coozie unit from the top.
What is the thing next to it? Is it supposed to be a phone screen showing the interface?
No idea what Red Dot is about. Not even after looking at their website. How protected is a design concept submitted for review, considering the award appears to be Singapore-based?
Is 400 dollars worth a certificate and a picture on their website… maybe? From all I can find that is all you get … and supposedly an invitation to their yearly ceremony. That you have to shell out more money for. You have to get there and find lodging and eat They certainly have quite a system … and you have to pay MORE if you win???
As of April 2020, the registration fee for consideration of a Red Dot awards ranges from €99 (for an individual designer in the Design Concept category) to €510 (for a latecomer in the Product Design category) Those who win a Red Dot award are required to purchase an additional “Winner Package”, the price of which ranges up to €5,999.
It also seems the really big names that they advertise as having “won” their award … BMW, Porsche, Apple, etc … NEVER entered. They are honorary titles. The richest companies in the world paid nothing and didn’t submit a thing. The more I read the more this seems really scammy.
Looks like they have been around since the late 50’s from Germany and branched out to Singapore in the early 00’s. They claim to get 1000’s of entries a year. I never heard a thing about them until just now.
As for your design, it’s quite nice. I like the sleek and modern look.
Bottom line…It’s your money. But, the only clear winner here (to me) is Red Dot.
They certainly have quite a system … and you have to pay MORE if you win???