SKD Wins Two Silver IDEA Awards for 2010

SKD’s hearing aids for Starkey honored by the IDSA for design that eliminates a social stigma and improves ease of use.

Marina Del Rey, CA (PRWEB) June 28, 2010

Stuart Karten Design (SKD), Southern California’s premier design and innovation consultancy, received accolades from one of the most prestigious industrial design award programs, the 2010 International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA). SKD’s Zon and S Series™ BTE with Sweep™ Technology hearing aids, designed for Starkey Laboratories, Inc., were both honored with Silver IDEA awards in the Medical and Scientific Products category.

With sophisticated designs and innovations such as the industry’s first and only touch control, the hearing aids make Starkey’s advanced digital technology more accessible and desirable to more than 35 million people who suffer from hearing loss.

“The IDEA Awards have a history of honoring not only beautiful products, but design that makes a positive difference in business and society,” says SKD Principal Stuart Karten. “Our goal in working with Starkey was to improve the experience of wearing a hearing aid and to eliminate the emotional stigma that many hearing aid users feel.”

The Zon and S Series BTE with Sweep Technology will be featured in the July/August issue of Fast Company magazine and included in the IDSA’s annual Yearbook of Industrial Design Excellence.

A panel of 18 world-renowned designers selected SKD’s work from more than 2,000 IDEA entries submitted from around the world. The awards – which are organized annually by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) – have been honoring international design excellence in products, eco-design, interaction design, packaging, strategy, research and concepts, since 1980.

About IDSA:
The Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) is the voice of industrial design committed to inspiring design quality and advancing the design profession through education, information, community and advocacy. Founded in 1965, IDSA is a professional membership organization with more than 2,300 members in 27 chapters in the U.S. and internationally.

About Stuart Karten Design, Inc.:
For more than 25 years, SKD has been a strategic partner to companies seeking to differentiate their products through creativity and design. SKD’s user-centered approach aims to develop products that excite their target customers and reflect empathy for user needs. Connecting creativity with commerce, SKD designs products that serve as brand ambassadors for clients, leading to greater market share and increased profit.

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