The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design presents its annual GOOD DESIGNŽ exhibition for the latest industrial and graphic designs by prominent American, European, and Asian designers.

The GOOD DESIGNŽ Competition is the oldest in the world, founded in Chicago in 1950 by Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Edgar Kaufmann Jr.of MoMA. Four decades later, the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design continues to organize the original GOOD DESIGNŽ program. The goals are to create a revived awareness about contemporary design excellence and to honor both products and industry leaders in design excellence and to honor both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have charted new directions for competitive products in the world marketplace. The emphasis of the GOOD DESIGNŽ program forwards the ideals of a design process that embodies product excellence and endurance.

This year's GOOD DESIGNŽ program drew over hundreds of entries from around the world.. A jury of professionals met in July and selected 85 products and graphics deserving of the Museum's GOOD DESIGNŽ Award for 1996. Another 40 objects were added to form a comprehensive exhibition that shows the international trends and directions in industrial design today.

This year's product range was extraordinary borad: from a jet airplane, an Audi, abus shelter (designed by British architect, Sir Norman Foster, outdoor lighting by the French Designer Philippe Starck (which actually folds up during the day) to garden tools, furniture, fabrics, telephones, computers, and bottle openers.

The 1996 Jury included: Pamlela Curley, Chairman, Industrial Designers Society of America/Chicago Chapter; George R. Kravis II, President and Owner, The Kravis Company, Tulsa, Oklahoma; Elaine Reck, General Manager, Sony Gallery of Consumer Electronics, Chicago; and Howard Sutton, Director of Communications, Steelcase, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

The jury based their decision on aesthetic criteria stated in the original GOOD DESIGN program written in 1950. Both in 1950s and 1990s competitions encourage manufacturers to use the GOOD DESIGN logo, designed by the late Cicago industrial designer, Mort Goldsholl in 1950, on product packaging, marketing, and promotions - just as it was used in the 1950s.

Christian K. Narkiewicz-Laine