Our 10 Best Design Award winners

The year's best designs, from electronics to furniture. 

Hitachi 1.5 Series LCD

Impossibly thin
Hitachi’s UltraThin 1.5 Series LCD is probably the most beautiful
flat-panel TV you’ve ever seen. Not only is it impossibly thin
(1.5-inches, hence the name), but its graceful angles and curves are stunning even when the picture is off.

It almost creates a new category: Uber-attractive TVs that bring the wow-factor back into the flat-panel market.

Read the review here.

American Leather Arclounge

Lavish Lounge
Furniture designer Rick Lee clearly wasn’t content with simply producing another piece of eye candy when he fashioned American Leather’s Arclounge sofa.

This sectional is as comfortable as it is curvaceously eye-catching.

The Arclounge, available in nearly 250 different cover shades, also is built to last with a lifetime warranty on its frame and suspension system.

Read the full writeup here.

albertofrias Transport

Hippie Haven
Yearn to be back in the psychedelic ’60s—or maybe just want to know what they were like? You might be the perfect candidate for albertofrias’ Transport.

This womb of a waterbed is a simplistically elegant pod of plastic (technically, fiberglass) that controls light, sound, and space, giving it the power to transport occupants back to a simpler, more hallucinogenic time.

Read the full writeup here.

 
Brueton Fishtale

Another Fishtale
If it seems incongruous that a stylish, modern home theater chaise lounge was inspired by an African carved-wood stool that principle designer Stanley Jay Friedman saw in the Louvre, you haven’t seen Brueton’s Fishtale.

In addition to possessing aesthetically pleasing lines that flow like a teardrop, Fishtale is anatomically supportive and comfortable, enabling its occupants to simultaneously sit up and recline.

Read the full writeup here.

SIM2 C3X 1080 3-chip DLP Projector

Italian Renaissance
Leave it to the birthplace of Michelangelo and Ferrari to prove there is no reason a front projector can’t look as good as the image it projects.

Italian designer Giorgio Revoldini created one of the world’s smallest and shapeliest 3-chip, 1080p DLP projectors in SIM2’s C3X 1080. Available in gunmetal, black, gold and, appropriately, Ferrari red.

Bang & Olufsen BeoVision 8

Big Bang theory
Bang & Olufsen designer David Lewis says he designed the BeoVision 8 “to be used instead of being switched off.”

So while the 32-inch LCD fl at-panel is as characteristically elegant as other B&O products, it also is versatile enough to perch anywhere. Thanks to its polarized, low-refl ection screen, that includes sundrenched settings—such as verandas—that would make most TV pictures disappear.

Read the full writeup here.

Hollandia Elite Bed

Bedtime story
Have a hard time getting out of bed? Better stay away from Hollandia’s Elite Bed or you may never get up.

Stylish enough for a living room, this bed features a retractable 32-inch HDTV, DVD/CD changer, iPod dock, and integrated surround-sound speakers.

Telescoping head support, automated head and foot adjustment, and 12 massage modes ensure comfort, too.

Read the full writeup here.

BDI Marina

Sailing Into View
By combining ultra-chic 1950’s styling with modern features, BDI’s Marina elevates itself beyond the realm of countless lookalike multimedia centers.

Like other BDI home theater stands, Marina is fitted with vented shelves, integrated cable management, IR-friendly glass doors, and hidden wheels.

But its quality craftsmanship, robust construction, and meticulous detailing help elevate Marina to fine furniture status.

The Statement by Clearaudio

Definitive Statement
We’re not sure how long it takes to create most museum-quality sculptures, but The Statement by Clearaudio is the culmination of 28 years of research and development.

The result of this effort is a 770-pound masterpiece of a platter player that belongs in a museum of modern art as much as an audiophiles’ listening room.

Read the full writeup here.

KEF 207/2 Reference loudspeaker

Great References
Although its creators state that KEF’s 207/2 Reference loudspeaker was designed to reproduce sound so accurate that the speaker itself seems to disappear, it also made that impossible by creating a cabinet so mesmerizingly beautiful it begs to be admired.

The 207/2’s marriage of acute angles and sensuous curves make it look as good as it sounds.

Also check out our 10 Best Software and 10 Best Gear winners.