Press Release
Sxdesign Receives the Silver A' Design Award for Nanpi Hardware Brand Identity in Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Sxdesign for advertising, marketing and communication design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 17, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Nanpi Hardware Brand Identity by Sxdesign, designed for Nanpi Hardware, has been granted the Silver A' Design Award in the Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design category. The recognition forms part of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
What the Silver A' Design Award Means
The Silver A' Design Award celebrates top-tier designs that embody excellence and innovation. This award acknowledges creations that are not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional, reflecting the designer's deep understanding and skill. Silver A' Design Award recipients are recognized for their contribution to raising industry standards and advancing the practice of design. Their work often incorporates original innovations and elicits a strong emotional response, making a notable impact on the improvement of everyday life.
More About Nanpi Hardware Brand Identity
Nanpi Hardware is a brand identity created for a metalworking cluster in Nanpi County, Hebei, China. The mark combines a square and a circle drawn with tangent geometry. The resulting form reads as a gate and also as a target reticle, expressing focused precision. The positive space suggests the letter N, and a calibrated slit reveals the letter P in the negative space. A two parameter study generated 147 variants, each tested for clarity at 10 mm. The geometry also supports a three dimensional totem whose key views match the flat logo.
About Sxdesign
As a design studio in China, “SX” stands for Chinese “ShangXiang” which taken from “Yi Chuan”. The name expounds our core opinion: To build significance of daily life through the observation, extraction, abstraction and reorganization of phenomena. sxdesign creates and values languages and ideas of client and user, such as requirements, knowledge, or the attitude of sxdesign itself.
Award Record
Sxdesign is a winner of 21 A' Design Awards, including this recognition. The awards were granted between the 2020 - 2021 and the 2025 - 2026 editions of the A' Design Award & Competition.
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/180007
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/180007
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!180007
- Laureate Profile: https://designers.org/d/304255
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
- Nanpi Hardware Brand Identity
- Function
- Brand Identity
- Category
- Advertising, Marketing and Communication Design
- Discipline
- Communication Design
- Industry
- Branding & Advertising
- Colors
- Royal Blue, Black, Ghost White, Teal and Dark Slate Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Nanpi Hardware
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Sxdesign
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Silver A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #180007
Credits
- Team
- Ma Rujun, Ye Hanbo, Liu Hongxiu, Zhao Guojun, Huang Hao, Chen Xu and Dr. Zhang Rong
- Image Credits
- sxdesign
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- A minimal square and circle construct forms a symbolic gate while suggesting the letter N in the positive space. A calibrated slit reveals the letter P in the negative space, forming the Nanpi initials. The mark also reads as a target reticle, expressing focused precision. Derived from the Turner cube, it supports a 3d totem whose key views align with the 2d logo.
- Inspiration
- Nanpi County in Hebei is a dense metalworking cluster whose parts often stay hidden inside larger systems. The identity needed to show craft height at a glance and speak in a global industrial language. A Turner cube, a machining benchmark, inspired a door like mark that frames Nanpi as a gateway to the world.
- Research
- Type of Research field study, benchmarking. Research Objectives define a symbol for Nanpi metalworking. Methodology brand prism mapping, geometric coding. Data Collection and Research Tools Used visits, interviews, sample set, parametric matrix. Participants or Experiments manufacturers, officials. Results abstract direction confirmed, 2d 3d mark validated. Insights and Impacts memory anchor improves recognition and export communication. Effect supports unified cluster branding.
- Challenge
- The hardest challenge was to honor Turner cube heritage while achieving a simple mark that stays clear at 10 mm. Another obstacle was embedding the letters N and P through positive and negative space without harming balance. The solution used strict tangency and calibrated gaps so 2d and 3d readings remain consistent.
- Realization and Technology
- The symbol was built from tangent geometry and tested through a two parameter matrix that generated 147 variants. Each variant was evaluated at 10 mm minimum size for legibility and balance. Vector masters and a strict grid ensure repeatability across media. A 3d model enables machining, casting, or anodized metal fabrication for awards, gifts, and landmarks.
- Operation and Interaction
- In 2d, the mark serves as the collective trademark and anchors a modular identity system across print, signage, and digital media. In 3d, the form can be rotated so the top view reads as a Turner cube while the front view reads as the logo. This multi view consistency strengthens recognition from product markings to city landmarks and gifts.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in September 2025 in Nanpi County, Hebei, China and finished in January 2026 in Beijing, China.
- Specifications
- Scalable vector, 1 to 1 square geometry, monochrome primary with optional single spot color. Minimum reproduction size 10 mm. Clear space at least the inner circle radius on all sides. 3d version based on a cube form, suitable for metal fabrication and desktop awards. Deliverables include vector, print ready, and manufacturing files.
- Keywords
- Industrial identity, Precision machining, Turner cube, Geometric logo, Negative space lettering, Parametric design, Metal fabrication, City landmark, Collective trademark, Minimalism
