GERMANY - In a public voting that took several weeks design enthusiasts were able to choose the three winners of the International Hettich Rehau Design Award 2018.

The 1st and 2nd place went to the designs of students from Chinese universities and the 3rd place was awarded to a creation from Pforzheim University.

This was the first edition of the International Design Award where the general public chose the winners through online public voting. The organizers of the competition, Dr. Andreas Hettich (Hettich) and Andreas Albig (Rehau), had shortlisted the top ten and then left the final decision to the design fans. The public's top choice by far was the most colorful, most playful design, followed by two clever furnishing solutions for small rooms.

1st place: "Cabi"

Making it to the top was a smart furniture idea for children's bedrooms that inspires children to play and clear up or which, later on, clears itself up so to speak with the aid of drones. The novel design was entered by Jia Min Luo, Kang Tian and Yi Fei Zhong who are studying at South China Agricultural University. Attracting 9,420 votes, it was the public's absolute favorite.

2nd place: "Moving Cabinets"

Here, the small cabinet elements, which can be moved, flexibly adjust to suit any chosen use, providing the storage space that happens to be needed. The technically perfected idea also comes from China, from Fangyuan Cheng, a student at Nanjing Forestry University. It received 4,521 votes. This university also entered the highest number of designs for the 2018 International Design Award.

3rd place: "Chair PF"

This piece of furniture is a veritable all-rounder − it can be used as a chair or bench, high desk or table. Equally as simple as it is impressive, this practical design comes from Daniel Diermeier who is studying at Pforzheim University in Germany. Attracting 3,553 votes, it managed to secure a comfortable third place.

The International Design Award, targeting design students, was released in 1997 and has received to date about 10,000 designs from more than 80 countries. In the 2018 edition, 1360 designs were received from students from 71 countries. The award is organized by two leading companies in the manufacture of supplies for the furniture industry, Hettich and Rehau.