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The oldest and most influential Design Award in the world!
75 years of GOOD DESIGN are considering us as the the oldest and the most prestigious Award Program
For over seven decades since its inception, The Chicago Athenaeum continues the organization of the program to create a revived awareness about contemporary design and to honor both products and industry leaders in design and manufacturing that have chartered new directions and pushed the envelope for competitive products in the world marketplace.
Every year, designers and manufactures in about 50 nations are honored for their singular achievements in producing hallmarks of contemporary design. For more than 70 years, everything and anything produced in and for the environment from a paperclip to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner or NASA Space Ship have been honored.
The GOOD DESIGN logo was designed by Chicago designer, Mort Goldsholl, in 1950. The black dot and square-shaped logo is used globally by winning companies to publically announce that their products and graphic designs have met the most strident and professional criteria and highest standard for international Design Excellence.
Since 1950, the Museum has awarded approximately 40,000 GOOD DESIGN Awards for design and innovation, sustainability, creativity, branding, ecologically responsible design, human factors, materials, technology, graphic arts, packaging, and universal design by various industrial design and graphic design firms working for the world’s major manufacturers and Fortune 500 companies in over 50 countries.
CRITERIA
The emphasis of the GOOD DESIGN program is on quality design of the highest form, function, and aesthetics a standard beyond ordinary consumer products and graphics. The Chicago Athenaeum's GOOD DESIGN program forwards the ideals of a design process that embodies product excellence and endurance and strong public identity.
Submissions to the program are judged by a jury of distinguished design professionals and leading industry specialists and design press on criteria established in the original 1950 program for the highest aesthetic in terms of innovative design, new technologies, form, materials, construction, concept, function, utility, and energy efficiency, and sensitivity to the environment.
Awarded design firms and manufacturers have the right to enter into a limited legal licensing agreement to use of the Museum's GOOD DESIGN logo to mark and identify the selected product or graphic in their marketing, publications, promotions, and communication campaigns as a public symbol of product and service quality. This public seal of approval immediately informs consumers to understand that the selected product and graphic meets the most rigorous test and criteria for absolute design excellence.
GOOD DESIGN is an international symbol of a company's firm commitment to innovation and superior design embodiment. Materials and products are accessed into the Museum's Permanent Design Collection and frequently exhibited in the United States and abroad.
GOOD DESIGN™ is a Federally Registered
and Protected U.S. Trademark of The Chicago Athenaeum .
- The GOOD DESIGN Logo was designed by Mort Goldsholl in 1950.
- Copyright © 1992 - 2022 The Chicago Athenaeum
GOOD DESIGN™ is a Federally Registered
and Protected U.S. Trademark of The Chicago Athenaeum .
- The GOOD DESIGN Logo was designed by Mort Goldsholl in 1950.
- Copyright © 1992 - 2022 The Chicago Athenaeum
