Design excellence honored in New York show

Four companies exhibiting in the Accent on Design section of the New York International Gift Fair were honored in recognition of their design innovation and creativity on August 17.

The New York International Gift Fair (NYIGF) is a trade fair held twice yearly that features the latest in household furnishings, gifts and accessories from manufacturers around the world; this year the summer edition of the NYIGF was held August 13-18.

The Accent on Design segment of the NYIGF showcases innovative design-led merchandise spanning all of the show's categories. At each show companies are awarded for Excellence in Product Design, Best Booth Presentation and Best Collection by a committee of industry experts; a Bloggers' Choice award is also presented to an additional Accent of Design exhibitor.

The winners of this year's Accent on Design honors , as chosen by a committee of experts, were:

Excellence in Product Design
Flux (Netherlands) - Flux was awarded for its creation the Flux Chair. The foldable chair weighs just 4.5kg (10lbs) and can support up to 136 kg (300lbs), comes in 25 colors and, once folded flat, can be mounted on a wall to save space.   http://www.fluxchairs.com

Excellence in Product Design
Alessi (USA) - Alessi was awarded for the manufacture of Tèo, a teaspoon with an innovative twist allowing users to remove the tea bag from the cup and squeeze it out by pulling it up through the hollow handle of the spoon. http://www.alessi.com

Best Booth Presentation
Mio (USA) - sustainable household furniture and accessories company Mio was honored for its use of recycled products in the construction of its booth at this summer's NYIGF.  http://mioculture.com/

Best Collection
Urban Butik (Canada) - Urban Butnik, the North American distributor for several Scandinavian brands, was honored at the NYIGF for the Born In Sweden collection. The Born In Sweden collection from the brand of the same name includes innovative stainless steel watering cans and miminalist coat racks made from a single piece of steel. http://www.urban-butik.com / http://www.borninsweden.se

Following on from the NYIGF the latest and most innovative household products will be on display at the Tendence trade show which runs August 26-30 in Frankfurt, Germany. Along with the Paris-based Maison & Objet (September 9-13), the NYIGF and Tendence help set the interior design and household accessories trends for the following season.

New York International Gift Fair - http://www.nyigf.com/
Tendence - http://tendence.messefrankfurt.com
Maison Objet - http://www.maison-objet.com/