2016 TISDC, Sponsored Jointly by Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation and iSee Taiwan Foundation, Set Impressive New Milestones

2016 TISDC Entries Evaluated By an Expanded Panel of 27 Expert Judges Spotlighting Taiwan's Design Potential

TISDC 2016 Gold Prize winner earns NT$400,000 cash award

TAIPEI, Taiwan, Nov. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Taiwan International Student Design Competition (TISDC) 2016, an annual event that is organized by the Youth Development Administration, Ministry of Education (MOE), and sponsored jointly by Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation and iSee Taiwan Foundation, has set impressive new milestones in terms of participation and prestige. TISDC 2016 attracted an unprecedented 14,858 entries in four award categories from 882 design schools located in 69 different countries and regions. "Borderlines", created by the young Czech artist Hanka Novakova, was chosen from among 431 exceptional finalist entries for the TISDC Gold Prize and a cash award of NT$400,000.

The distinguished panel of 27 TISDC jurors included the representatives of 15 international design organizations from a variety of disciplines. Among the latter were animator and Oscar nominee Konstantin Bronzit; Pixar, Dreamworks, and Disney storyboard artist and current head of Graphic Subject Matter Mike Cachuela; former MUJI design consultant and current Japan Institute of Design Promotion Board Member Fumikazu Masuda; Hong Kong Designers Association Lifetime Honorary Award recipient Kan Tai-keung; and Grass Jelly Studio co-founder and multitalented winner of MTV Europe Music, Golden Melody, and Golden Horse awards Muh Chen. The active participation of these professionals has broadened TISDC's horizons and established TISDC as one of the world's top student design competitions.

TISDC coordinator Apex Lin notes that TISDC is now the world's largest design competition for students, providing an exceptional stage for up-and-coming Taiwanese talent to impress prominent design professionals across the globe.

iSee Taiwan Foundation-sponsored Brand Specific award category encourages rising design stars worldwide to promote Formosan culinary heritage

In promoting "culture, tourism, and innovation," the iSee Taiwan Foundation regularly works to attract visitors from around the world to experience and enjoy Taiwan's many unique charms. These charms naturally include Taiwan's celebrated culinary heritage and cuisine, which were the inspirations for the foundation's sponsorship of the new TISDC "Brand Specific" awards category: New Tableware Era -- Taiwan Cuisine Cutlery Design. The foundation looks to the Brand Specific award to inspire creative reinterpretations of Taiwan's culinary heritage using fresh ideas and creativity that draw on myriad global perspectives.

The 621 entries for the Brand Specific award, submitted by students from Taiwan, mainland China, Singapore, India, Russia, and Israel, creatively captured various aspects of Taiwan's culinary heritage. After prolonged deliberation, the jurors selected 60 category finalists and named 5 joint Gold Prize winners, including Ying-chun Lin, Wen-cheng Tian, Po-chun Chen, Guang-hong Yao, and Ying-chih Wang, all from Taiwan and mainland China, who were lauded for their macroscopic, "global-meets-local" approach to design. iSee Taiwan Foundation CEO Don Chen expressed that he looks forward to the Brand Specific award boosting global awareness of Taiwan's exceptional cultural and artistic heritage as well as the extensive talent and capabilities of its cultural and creative industry.

iSee Taiwan Foundation and Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation Sponsor Global Talent Design Festival

Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation co-organized the Global Talent Design Festival 2016 with iSee Taiwan Foundation as a platform to further "education, innovation, and care" and further cultivate humanity and an innovative, benevolent society through promoting the cross-disciplinary idea of service design education.

To raise the global profile of the TISDC, Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation worked with the MOE to secure the participation of 15 international design organizations in final judging and award presentations. These 15 organizations included the Brno Biennale Association, Good Design Australia, Hong Kong Federation of Design Associations, International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID), INDEX: Design to Improve Life, India Design Council, International Poster Biennial in Mexico, Japan Institute of Design Promotion, Korea Ensemble of Contemporary Design, Macau Designers Association, Taiwan Design Center, Thailand Creative & Design Center, South African Bureau of Standards Design Institute, Design Business Chamber Singapore, and German Design Council.

Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation Board Member & Acting Chief Executive Jeter Her states that the aim of the foundation is to turn the festival and related activities into an effective platform for the 15 partners to elicit meaningful dialogue between design professionals and scholars in Taiwan and internationally.

About the 2016 Global Talent Design Festival

iSee Taiwan Foundation and Sayling Wen Cultural & Educational Foundation continue to support the TISDC in cooperation with the Ministry of Education. This year, their support has expanded to include the 2016 Global Talent Design Festival (GTDF). The festival offers a new and stimulating array of design-related activities, including: 1) The International Masters Joint University Forum, which will invite representatives from major design organizations worldwide to engage Taiwanese design students and faculty in topical, interactive discussions that spotlight and promote Taiwan's service-oriented strengths; 2) The International VIP Cultural Tour program, which will take visiting design professionals who are in Taiwan for the TISDC on in-depth, topical tours of Taiwan society and culture; and 3) The Industry Joint Reception, which will highlight Taiwan's innate elegance and beauty, which are inexhaustible sources of inspiration for the domestic design industry and the bedrock of ongoing efforts to showcase and promote Taiwan's design strengths to a global audience.

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