By Cho Jin-seo Staff Reporter
Though LG Electronics doesn’t get as much respect as Samsung Electronics for its technological prowess, the former is making it clear that it is superior in aesthetic design.
South Korea’s second largest electronics maker said Thursday that it was selected as one of the 12 “best of the best” design concept winners by Red Dot Award, for its futuristic laptop PC design, which has a wide screen and operates on eco-friendly alcohol power.
The Red Dot Award is one of the three most respected design awards in the world, along with iF Award and IDEA Award. Its design concept award recognizes the inspiration one gives to the industry, while its product design award is given to products currently available on the market.
So it was double the joy for LG because earlier this year, it had received record-breaking wins in 20 product design categories.
“The design concept award, given for recognition of an innovative design, means we are a step ahead of the others,” said Shim Jae-jin, chief of the digital display and media design lab. “Winning in the product design and concept design categories, proves we are the world’s best designers.”
The future laptop, dubbed “ebook,” uses organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for display instead of the current liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. Unlike LCD, OLED does not need a frame around it, and it consumes less electricity.
It also features a transparent cylindrical hinge that is used as storage for clean fuels such as methyl alcohol. The keypad will also be made of a singe OLED panel, like the one used in LG’s Chocolate Phone, which was copied by Samsung for its cell phones and MP3 players.
“Under the current technology, it’s extremely expensive to build such a laptop. But it’s possible,” said Na Joo-young, public relations official of the company, citing the enormous size of OLED panels used in the mock-up. “We are suggesting the idea for the laptop of the next generation.”
Another pleasant victory over Samsung is taking place in the refrigerator and washing machine market.
In the summer, both Samsung and LG challenged fashion designers to produce cover designs for refrigerators and washing machines. The result was a huge victory for LG.
According to retailers Himart and Etland, LG sold 1,230 Dios refrigerators that have flowery patterns borrowed from painter Ha Sang-rim, while Samsung sold only 411 units of Zipel refrigerators conceived by Andre Kim, a celebrity fashion designer.
It is also notable that LG was one of two corporations among the 12 winners. The other winners are individual designers or university teams from around the world, including a team from Daejin University in South Korea. The result showed it is difficult for salaried designers at large corporations like Samsung and Sony to be as creative as students or designers at small firms, but the LG team managed to do it.
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