The Best Product Designs Of The Year

The global recovery is gaining traction, and at corporations around the world, high-octane design is fueling the strong rebound. Whether it is with breakthrough new products, hybrid combinations of older ones, or research into rethinking the entire consumer experience, companies are using design to generate sales and profits. The 2004 winners of the Industrial Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) demonstrate that design is playing a critical role for corporations as they turn away from cost-cutting survival tactics to return to strategies of growth.

The annual contest, sponsored by BusinessWeek and juried by the Industrial Designers Society of America, is usually full of surprises. This year is no exception. For the first time in the competition's 24-year history, an Asian company won more awards than any U.S. or European corporation: Samsung took five IDEAs (including two golds), with Apple Computer Inc. (AAPL ) the runner-up, winning four (two of them golds).