On 21st and 22nd November this year, a panel of expert design judges got together in Hannover to decide which companies had mad their best efforts count in the world of design. This morning , as the winners are announced, Thermaltake's Google-esque HQ in Taipei will be rocking  as its talented young team pick up 3 coveted awards. KitGuru scans the listings to extract the important info.

With 48 of the world's leading designers sitting on a panel and more than 4,300 products up for consideration, picking up an award from iF is not easy. Established in 1953, the iF panel has changed many times over the past 60 years, but the guiding principal remains the same: Look for the best of what humans are doing with design in the fields of Product, Communication and Packaging – then give the best efforts the international recognition they deserve – in order to encourage the next generation of designer to stretch themselves even further.

You can download a 4MB guide to exactly what happens from here, while the criteria applied for every category looks at:-

■ Design quality
■ Finish
■ Choice of materials
■ Degree of innovation
■ Environmental impact
■ Functionality
■ Ergonomics
■ Visualization of intended use
■ Safety
■ Brand value + branding
■ Universal design

For the 2013 iF awards, Thermaltake's designers scored with 3 separate products:-

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KitGuru says: It's nice to have internationally recognised bodies like iF pushing designers to try new and innovative ways to bring products to market. With cars, we all gasp at the latest concept models – but know that in many cases they will be watered down before being put on sales to the general public. More power to the concept!

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