The Eastman Innovation Lab website, which was designed by London-based The Brewery, received a gold award in the 2005 Industrial Design Excellence Award (IDEA) competition in the Digital Media and Interfaces category. The IDEA competition is co-sponsored by BusinessWeek and the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA). A jury of 17 designers and critics reviewed entries online and conducted face-to-face evaluations and debates with IDEA contestants. Judging criteria for each entry focused on five areas of industrial design excellence: design innovation, benefit to the user, benefit to the client/business, ecological responsibility and appropriate aesthetics and appeal. The Eastman Innovation Lab website competed against 423 submissions from 17 countries.
The site challenges expectations of a materials company by using design to provide a highly visual, easy to navigate materials resource. Content includes simple, non-technical descriptions of Eastman’s products and demonstrates their use through application successes, providing links throughout for additional information. It is an innovative resource for designers and brand owners that facilitates awareness of Eastman’s products and enables inspiration for new products. In addition, it encourages the improvement of existing products, the development of new market categories and the stimulation of the senses.
www.eastmaninnovationlabs.com