Apple Watch Wins Renowned iF Design Award Before Release

[dec.]

Yep, if Apple hadn't submitted it for inclusion, it wouldn't have won an award.

As with many other setups like this, the trick is to submit a product at a time when you expect little or no competition in your category.

I've had bosses submit things all the time for these kinds of editorial awards. The association gets money for membership, my boss gets a nice Lucite trophy, and everyone's happy

I agree, it was a cheap attempt of LG, Asus, Appe, Alcatel, Samsung, Sony, Huawei and others to snag an award. They all did, Apple did get gold among that competition, I wonder how much that did cost them. In your opinion: Which competitor was missing at the time of submission deadline?

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I looked more into iF. The current ranking on their website has Samsung at first place, and Apple in seventh place...

Since Kdarling already explained the award, it appears that Samsung have nailed down the timing of when to submit a fridge, remote or concept of some obscure device . Unfortunately they did submit some watches, but they didn't get gold.

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I think the Moto360 looks better (it isn't the greatest smartwatch, but design-wise I think it looks more sleeker than Apple Watch). The LG G Watch R also looks great and much better than the Apple Watch.

IMHO, I don't think it's fair to let the Apple Watch win since it hasn't been released. Even if they had a final product in their hands, it's only been announced, not released.

The Alcatel one Touch whatever Watch has won an award as well and it's not available. So it's not like Apple had any special role here, even if some might like to sell it that way to you.

 

[sickducker]

That doesn't really disprove my point since they have all been designed for a square display. I'm just saying, in my subjective opinion, I believe a round watch would be much more aesthetically pleasing and pose no major problems to design a functional app for. There are many circular design elements already in those screenshots even though the display is square. So circularity it is in the minds of the designers almost as if it is an unconscious wish that the display was also circular.

Square watches work well with both round and square interfaces, but the converse is not true (unless you have a really large diameter watch face). Secondly pretty much all app makers are used to square screens, so making a good square watch ui will be much easier. Aesthetically I don't find round watches to look better than square, so making round watches work is just waste of energy in my opinion.

 

[Wiesenlooser]

I really like the design. But I do think it is ridiculous to award a product of good design that has yet to be released.

I don't know - it kind of makes the design community seem superficial and unprofessional

 

[lazyrighteye]

Your deep emotional appreciation of Apple's work is impressive.

And clearly, you have completely missed the point.
So I guess it was B) hack. So much for benefit of the doubt...

As you were.

 

[kdarling]

Re: awards for a device that is not out yet.

2015 award entries are actually submitted by the end of 2014. So you'd think it was really a 2014 award. However, entries can include products that will come out sometime in 2015.

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Any company can apply for an IF design award. It can be a product, architecture, concept, or even a website.

For a category like smartwatches, the entry fee is EUR 350 per entry. Winners pay a mandatory extra EUR 2,700 per entry, for benefits such as being shown on the IF website, exhibiting at their shows, etc.

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The more you play, the more you win. The outcome might not make sense to everyone.

Since 1985, Apple has won 118 IF awards, and is ranked #7 in design by the IF for 2015, and #53 overall.

Since 1995, Samsung Korea has won 501 awards, and they are ranked #1 in design by the IF. Other divisions have also won, such as Samsung China with 92 awards since 2005.

For 2015, Samsung won 48 awards, 7 of which were gold, including a gold for this concept design of a phone with an edge display:



Industries are full of self-congratulatory groups like these.

 

[AppDiggity]

The Apple watch is going the route of Google Glass

 

[technosix]

The Apple watch is going the route of Google Glass

That's a thought I hadn't entertained. Yet I've often wondered if after the hype and newness wears off, if smartwatches will establish themselves as more than a passing curiosity.

When Apple introduces a new product in a relatively new category it's always "life changing". To hear the way they've perfected their sales pitch is rather impressive. So much so, many Apple followers actually believe them, hence the high volume sales.

One things for certain, there's plenty of professional Con Men worldwide that'd like to be as good as Apple at the game of influence.

 

[iSee]

That's a thought I hadn't entertained. Yet I've often wondered if after the hype and newness wears off, if smartwatches will establish themselves as more than a passing curiosity.

When Apple introduces a new product in a relatively new category it's always "life changing". To hear the way they've perfected their sales pitch is rather impressive. So much so, many Apple followers actually believe them, hence the high volume sales.

One things for certain, there's plenty of professional Con Men worldwide that'd like to be as good as Apple at the game of influence.

Apple's been building their credibility for decades... by delivering on the promises their marketing makes. (Not always, but a lot more often than not.)

That's why people believe them. And why it doesn't make sense to compare them to con men.

Also, on why the Apple Watch isn't like Google Glass: https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=20780010#post20780010