Press Release
Golden A' Design Award in Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design Goes to The Kaobei Cultural Promotion Cup by Yen Chang Chen
Yen Chang Chen recognized for advertising, marketing and communication design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 22, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ The Kaobei Cultural Promotion Cup by Yen Chang Chen, designed for Yuan Ze University, has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The result belongs to the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
The Golden A' Design Award Explained
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
More About The Kaobei Cultural Promotion Cup
The Kaobei Cup is a ceramic design that transforms everyday vernacular expressions into tangible objects for communication and interaction. Inspired by daily conversations and digital culture, it converts commonly spoken phrases into visual forms that enable emotional expression and social connection. Beyond its function as a cup, it acts as a cultural interface, turning language into a shared and interactive experience across physical and social contexts. It creates a repeatable system that can expand across different languages and cultural contexts, enhancing its scalability and impact.
About Yen Chang Chen
I am a designer and educator working at the intersection of design practice, cultural storytelling, and creative education. With over two decades of professional experience in advertising and creative industries, I now focus on bridging industry practice with academic research and teaching, helping young designers connect design theory with real-life social and cultural contexts. My work has received multiple design and advertising awards, and many of my projects explore how everyday Taiwanese culture can be transformed into contemporary design language.
Award Record
Yen Chang Chen is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design Award
The A' Advertising Design Award is an international advertising design competition recognizing good advertisement designs by designers and agencies worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to advertising designers, marketing professionals, communication designers and creative directors from all countries. Typical entries include advertisement campaigns, billboards, commercials, print ads, social media campaigns and direct mails. The awarded advertising designs are published at https://designers.org/design-category/advertising
About A' Design Award & Competition
Organized annually since 2008, A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The philanthropic mission of the A' Design Award is to advance society through good design, by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Nominations are peer reviewed and evaluated anonymously by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. Eligible laureates receive the A' Design Prize, which includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, uploading a work and receiving a preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. More information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://designers.org/178404
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/178404
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!178404
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/376235
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- The Kaobei Cultural Promotion Cup
- Function
- Cultural Promotion Cup
- Category
- Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising
- Colors
- Dark Slate Gray, Light Gray, Silver, Dim Gray and Dark Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Yuan Ze University
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yen Chang Chen
- Country
- Taiwan (China)
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #178404
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- The KaoBei Cup is a ceramic design that transforms vernacular language into a functional communication interface. It goes beyond conventional products by integrating language, object, and social interaction into a scalable cultural system. By materializing informal expressions, it creates a new form of engagement that connects everyday use with digital sharing and cultural participation.
- Inspiration
- The KaoBei Cup is inspired by the everyday vernacular expressions widely used in contemporary communication, particularly those shaped by digital culture. These phrases, often casual, humorous, and emotionally expressive, have evolved into a shared linguistic system reflecting how people interact and connect in daily life. The project explores how language can move beyond text and speech to become a tangible cultural medium. By transforming commonly spoken expressions into physical objects, the design materializes intangible communication and repositions it within everyday use. The inspiration also emerges from the contrast between informal language and formal cultural contexts.
- Research
- This project is qualitative design research exploring how vernacular language can be transformed into product-based communication. The objective is to materialize everyday expressions into interactive objects. Methods include linguistic observation, visual translation, and prototyping. Data were collected from daily speech and digital communication patterns. Tested through real-world use in cultural contexts. Results show increased engagement and sharing. Insights reveal language can function as a cultural interface, impacting design, communication, and cultural industries.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was translating informal vernacular language into a culturally acceptable and functional design without losing its original tone. Balancing humor, sensitivity, and readability required careful iteration. Another difficulty was standardizing non-structured expressions into consistent visual forms for production. The project addressed these through linguistic analysis, typographic refinement, and prototyping, ensuring both authenticity and scalability.
- Realization and Technology
- The KaoBei Cup is produced using ceramic slip casting with high-fired porcelain for durability and fine detail. The vernacular typography is developed through iterative graphic translation and applied using precision decal printing and kiln firing. The process integrates linguistic research, visual abstraction, and material prototyping to ensure consistency across series production.
- Operation and Interaction
- Users interact with the Kao Bei Cup through daily use, where each printed phrase expresses a specific emotion or attitude. The cup functions as a conversation starter, allowing users to communicate indirectly through language embedded in the object. Its interaction extends beyond physical use to social sharing, enabling engagement across both personal and digital contexts.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in 2024 in Taiwan and was completed in early 2025. It was implemented in museum retail and social media contexts, where it was presented as part of cultural promotion initiatives. The design continues to be developed and expanded as a series-based product system.
- Specifications
- Dimensions: approx. 90 mm (W) × 90 mm (D) × 100 mm (H); capacity approx. 300 ml. Material: high-fired porcelain with glazed finish. Production: slip casting with decal transfer printing and kiln firing. Packaging: recyclable paper box with protective insert. Series-based design with multiple typographic variations ensuring consistency and scalability.
- Keywords
- vernacular design, cultural communication, language-based design, product system, emotional interaction, typographic design, social engagement, everyday object, cultural identity, design innovation
