A student at the UK's De Montfort University (DMU) has won his second major competition this year with a new mobile phone handset designed for Orange. Chi Shing Lo has won first prize in the annual D&AD Student Awards which showcase the best emerging design and advertising talent from hundreds of colleges and universities around the globe.

Earlier this year Shing, who comes from Hong Kong and is in his second year studying BA(Hons) Product Design at DMU in Leicester, won a national RNID competition to design trendy earplugs to protect the hearing of nightclub goers.

Now he has beaten off international competition, winning one of the coveted D&AD Student Awards with his phone design which reverses the trend in overly complicated aesthetics.

Shing's handset design included a simple 'hole' which acts as a view finder when taking photographs, a charging point using inductive charging technology, and as a means of transferring data. The hole also has a mirror surrounding it to enabling the user to take pictures of themselves.

In their 30th year, the D&AD Student Awards exist to identify the best new talent in advertising and design. A total of 22 first prizes were handed out to students from the UK, South Africa, Italy, Sweden and Finland.

"The quality of work across the board was the best I have ever seen. College standards have risen to such a height, that the judges agreed that much of the material exhibited by these students should have contended at a professional level," said D&AD Education Chairman, Al Young.

Juries made up of 180 creative and business specialists selected the 388 entries that made it into the student annual competition.

All of the work will be showcased in the D&AD Student Annual, which launches on 18 September at the London Design Festival.

Michael Marsden, Subject Leader for Product, Furniture and Industrial Design at DMU, said: "Shing's achievement is characterised by his combination of high skill levels and a particularly creative approach to problem solving. Winning an award at this level is significant, especially as Shing is only a second year student and much of the competition will be final year students with far more design experience.

"This award marks a very good year for Product and Furniture Design at De Montfort University; our students have won first, second and third in the RNID design competition, a student winning an RSA bursary award, and other students being commended in both the D&AD and RSA awards."

Posted to the site on 1st July 2008

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