SizeChina, a project led by Dr Roger Ball, Associate Professor of PolyU Design, was nominated as one of the seven finalists from around the world.
The World Design Impact Prize is a biennial designation created to recognize, empower and stimulate socially responsible design projects around the world. Established by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), the World Design Impact Prize will honor and reward industrial design driven projects that are making a positive impact on our social, economic, cultural and/or environmental quality of life.
By drawing from the expertise of Icsid’s network, the World Design Impact Prize creates an exciting opportunity for members and the general public to play an active role in recognizing and honoring projects, and project partners, that create a better world through design. Furthermore, the establishment of a prize specifically for industrial design driven projects will produce tangible examples, best practices and socially responsible industrial designs that will help shape the future of the profession. The winner of the World Design Impact Prize, Community Cooker project from Kenya was announced on 2 February 2012.
SizeChina was nominated as it set the start of a new age of Asian anthropometrics. It was launched to assemble data from a representative cross-section of people from the Chinese mainland to create the first-ever digital database of Chinese head and face shapes. It met the design need for accurate data by creating a practical, sophisticated design measurement database for use by industries developing the next generation of Asian-fit products. Seeing others taking up the challenge as well, with a SizeIndia and a SizeAfrica, the project will ultimately lead to the creation of a universal anthropometric “shape library” of the entire human race.
