Recognition for 3M Design Excellence Gains Momentum

As 3M continues to amplify the creative and functional role of design to enrich innovation across its vast and diverse portfolio, design industry experts are taking notice. Twelve design awards from various international institutions recognized the company for design excellence in areas as varied as workspace, health care, packaging, and consumer products.

Recognized for interior design excellence, the innovative and playful design space of the 3M Global Design Lab provides a creative hub for 3M's design vision to come to life. (Photo: 3M)

The awards come from the 2013 Red Dot Design Competition (six in the category of High Design Quality), Chicago Athenaeum’s 2012 GOOD Design (two in the category of Household Products), Graphic Design USA (two in the Packaging Design category), Office Products International, and the International Interior Design Association.

This acknowledgement by peers in the field of design reflects increasing commitment and recognition of 3M for design over the past several years to ensure inspiring solutions and customer experience. “As we build upon capability to connect customer insights with the passion and creativity of our design team at 3M, the opportunities for impact are very exciting,” said 3M Chief Design Officer, Eric Quint. “We are honored by this recognition and look forward to continued acceleration of opportunity to create value through design and its contributions to 3M innovation and growth.”

With design offices in St. Paul, Milan, Shanghai, and Tokyo, the 3M global design lab works with both internal talent as well as an international community of outside experts to inject dynamic perspective into design.

3M Product Winners of the 2013 Red Dot Design Awards (High Design Quality):
Post-it Big Pad is an ideation tool designed to facilitate collaborative engagement. Large in size, yet easily portable, Post-it Big Pads serve as a canvas to colorfully capture thoughts together, encouraging you to dream big and ignite creativity.

Post-it Full Adhesive Roll is an easy to use dispenser that allows you to create labels in the perfect length. Useful for a variety of applications, the Post-it Super Sticky adhesive allows the Full Adhesive Rolls to stick securely yet remove cleanly. Attractive enough to sit on a desk, yet small enough to fit in a drawer, the sleek white dispenser holds rolls in green, white, pink or yellow.

Filtrete Car Purifier provides a compact and elegant addition to a well-designed car interior, offering sophisticated and quiet air filtration technology. This product originated from 3M’s office in China, where air pollution concerns continue to rise as commuters often spend more than an hour each day in their cars, stationary and surrounded by fumes from other vehicles.

3M Kind Removal Silicone Tape is a next generation medical tape introduced by 3M’s Health Care Business that incorporates adhesive technology with a silicone base to provide optimal balance of securement and gentleness. The new technology allows this repositionable tape to be removed easily and gently from patients’ skin, catering to pediatric and aging patients alike, while also increasing nurse satisfaction.

The 3M ESPE Intra-oral Syringe, a single-use solution for VPS and polyether impression materials, is designed for precise application in the patient’s mouth. Red Dot recognition highlights high degree of innovation, functional and ergonomic design, ease of use and longevity.

3M ESPE Retraction Capsule is an ergonomic dispenser for astringent retraction paste that allows for effective mechanical retraction of the gingiva prior to impression-taking or direct restorative procedures. The retraction capsule is compatible with common composite dispensers, and enables easy application directly into the sulcus due to its very fine tip.

3M Product Winners of the 2012 GOOD DESIGN Awards (Household Products):
Scotch Notchless Magic Tape Dispenser presents a highly elegant minimalist design, delivering precise tape-cutting action when you need it most.

Post-it and Scotch Dispenser Line by Karim Rashid brings an island of softness and serenity to the eye while inviting enjoyable and functional use on any desktop. Whether you’re in need of a pop-up note or one-hand tape dispensing, the weighted dispensers bring design to organization. This line was produced in collaboration with famed Designer, Karim Rashid.

3M Product Winner of the Office Products International (OPI) Design Excellence:
Post-it Z-Notes “Fashionably Fun” Dispenser Line offers an attention-getting apple-shaped dispenser that holds 3x3 inch pop-up notes. With a fresh note always close at hand, this line of dispensers adds a little fun while helping to increase your productivity.

Graphic Design USA American Package Design Award:
3M LED Advanced Light brings energy efficiency without the compromise. The outstanding energy saving benefits of this product are enhanced by 3M Light Guide technology, designed to ensure uniform light distribution in a familiar iconic bulb shape.

The Scotch-Brite Printed Lint Roller, available in "Pink Zebra" and "Baroque" patterns, presents a fashion-inspired line of lint roller products, powered by Scotch Brand adhesive to help keep clothes free of lint, fuzz, and fur.

3M Winner of International Interior Design Association FAB Award (Small Commercial):
3M Global Design Lab, created in 2011, recognizes BWBR Architects of St. Paul and 3M for interior design excellence. The innovative playful design space is ideal for collaboration and ideation, providing a creative hub for 3M’s design vision to come to life.

*Product images available upon request

About the Red Dot Design Awards
Red Dot Design Awards recognize those who distinguish their business activities through design quality, and are sponsored by the Red Dot Institute at Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, one of the oldest and most highly reputed design institutions in Europe since 1955. The international jury only awards this sought-after seal of quality to projects that set themselves apart significantly from comparable projects thanks to their excellent design.

About the GOOD DESIGN Program
The GOOD DESIGN Awards, sponsored by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Center for Architecture, Art Design and Urban Studies, is the oldest and most recognized program for design excellence worldwide, recognizing products that align with a vision to brighten and enhance society through design.

About 3M — A Global, Diversified Technology Company
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs about 88,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 70 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter. 3M,

Post-it, Filtrete, 3M ESPE, Scotch, Magic, Scotch-Brite, and 3M are trademarks of 3M Company. GOOD DESIGN is a trademark of The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design.

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