Bosch Wins the Plus X Award June 10, 2009
Robert Bosch, a client for over fifty years, has received the Plus X Award for Most Innovative Brand of the Year in Technology: Power Tools Category. The Plus X Award touts itself as the largest technology, sports, and lifestyle competition in the world, recognizing products with innovative functional features, or a “plus x” factor.
The Plus X Award recognizes innovation in 13 product categories, such as large home appliances, car media, and sports equipment. This year, 260 products hailing from 32 nations and 13 industries received the Plus X Award Seal in the award categories of Innovation, High Quality, Design, Ease of Use/Functionality, Ergonomics, and Ecology. The brand that has received the most Plus X Award Seals within their product category is then declared the most innovative brand in that category. Fourteen power tools from Bosch’s professional line, Bosch Blue, received seals in several award categories.
The process is juried by a group of prominent trade journalists and industry professionals. Divided into panels based on their area of expertise, jurors spend several weeks conducting extensive product testing and conferring before reaching their final decisions.
The Plus X Award
Purdue University Graduation Show Hosted At TEAMS Chicago April 24, 2009
The 2009 Purdue University Senior Design Show and the first ever Mouth Off competition were hosted by TEAMS Chicago. Graduating seniors from the Industrial Design Department exhibited their concept models for the attending students, family members, and professionals. Attendees were encouraged to vote for their favorite concept by placing a chip in the cup on its display. The Outstanding Portfolio Award went to Benjamin Jordan Taber for his RightStep, which offers mobility assistance to users who have difficulty climbing stairs on their own; the project also received an honorable mention at the 2008 Student Design Competition hosted by the International Home and Housewares Association.
During the Mouth Off competition, organized by Paul Hatch and James Dangora of TEAMS Design, images of the students’ designs were projected while participants, all from an industrial design background but with little prior knowledge of the products’ functions, presented their humorously incorrect interpretations and perceptions of the concepts. The most impudent and opinionated Mouth Off participant was declared champion.
Three Appliance Magazine EID Gold Awards April, 2009
TEAMS is the proud recipient of three of the nine Gold Excellence In Design Awards from Appliance Magazine. The honored products were for the Classmate Laptop PC designed for Intel, the rugged RS35 Reciprocating Saw for Bosch, and the best-selling Bean, a children's digital camera for Argus.
Appliance Design
Paul Hatch Receives IDSA Midwest Honors for Outstanding Achievement April 4, 2009
TEAMS Chicago's own Paul Hatch received this juried award at the IDSA Midwest Conference in Minneapolis. Paul is only the third practitioner to receive this award, honoring his involvement and commitment to the ID profession as a whole.
Exposure! Photo Scavenger Hunt at the IDSA Midwest Conference April 3, 2009
Thanks to all who participated in the scavenger hunt over the weekend! It was a great conference, and we’re looking forward to seeing your photos.
To submit your entries:
- Login to your existing Flickr account or create a Yahoo! ID in order to join Flickr.
- Upload your photos to your account.
- Under Your Photostream on your Home page, click the link to upload your photos.
- Select only one photo per checklist item to submit.
- After your upload has completed, click add a description. For the title of each photo, please name them by which checklist item you are submitting them as. Feel free to add a description as well.
- On your Organize page, click create a new set. Name this set Exposure! Submissions, and drag your entries into the set.
- Join the competition’s group at www.flickr.com/groups/idsahunt/ and add your photos to the group's page.
All submissions must be uploaded by midnight on Friday April, 10. The contest is still open for entry. Please stop by the Flickr group to submit your photos.
Exposure! Flickr Page
Housewares Show After-Party At TEAMS Chicago March 23, 2009
Weary visitors of the International Housewares Show gathered at an after-party at TEAMS Design on Mar 15th. The get-together was hosted at their Chicago offices where visitors got a glimpse into the studios and a chance meet and mingle with fellow designers.
TEAMS Chicago
Bosch Enters Into Pneumatics With Major Launch March, 2009
Internet buzz is already gathering around Bosch's first launch of pneumatic tools, an entirely new line including compressors, framing nailers, roofing nailers, staplers, finish nailers, and a brad nailer. Together with Bosch, TEAMS designed the nailers from the ground up, "with a level of innovation that hasn't been seen since the first pneumatic nailer was released in the early '60s," online magazine ToolSnob commented. "If the tool industry was an above ground pool, last week Bosch was the 300 pound man cannonballing into the center of it."
CopTool Blog