Press Release
Bronze A' Design Award in Giftware Design Goes to Tainan Embroidery Amulet by Yi-Pei Wu
The international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition recognizes Yi-Pei Wu for giftware design
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 23, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has confirmed the Bronze A' Design Award in the Giftware Design category for Tainan Embroidery Amulet by Yi-Pei Wu, designed for Tainan Embroidery Trade Association. 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 evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Tainan Embroidery Amulet
Tainan Embroidery is a collection of amulets and a tote bag made with machine embroidery factories in Tainan, Taiwan. Temple motifs, such as deity figures, carved pillars and old tapestries, are redrawn as modern patterns. The Dragon amulet joins a density of 40,000 stitches with printing for fine scales, while the Love amulet applies lingerie lace technology and holds incense ashes in an inner mesh pocket. The tote bag is made from circular yarn spun from leftover factory threads. The collection turns traditional amulets into everyday cultural objects.
About Yi-Pei Wu
Yi-Pei Wu is a Visual Communication Designer specialising in graphic branding and visual communication across continents, providing high-level visual design, framework functionality, and data visualisation for global giants, translating complex research into accessible visual narratives. On the creative side, she specialises in Brand Research & Identity Development for businesses small and large. She also brings cinematic concepts to life through Art Direction for music videos and concerts, merging sonic energy with visual world-building. Today, through her own studio, she collaborates with creative talents worldwide to deliver design that is as strategic as it is beautiful.
Award Record
With this recognition, Yi-Pei Wu is a winner of 1 A' Design Award.
About the A' Giftware Design Award
The A' Giftware Design Award is an international gift design competition recognizing good gift designs by leading brands, manufacturers and designers worldwide. It is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to giftware designers, product designers, industrial design studios and giftware brands from all countries. Typical entries include candles, figurines, picture frames, decorative plates, ornaments and souvenirs. The awarded gift designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/giftware
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://dezigners.org/181245
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181245
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181245
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/380153
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
- Tainan Embroidery Amulet
- Function
- Amulet
- Category
- Giftware Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home and Packaging & Retail
- Colors
- Saddle Brown, Maroon, Peru, Sandy Brown and Chocolate
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Tainan Embroidery Trade Association
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Yi-Pei Wu
- Country
- Taiwan (China)
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181245
Credits
- Team
- Ting-Han Chen, Chung-Jen Lu, Yu-Ning Zhou, Szu-Yu Hou and Shang-Ru Tsai
- Image Credits
- Creator Yi-Pei Wu / the amulet set, 2025; Photographer Felan Wu / the up-cycled yarn tote bag, 2025; Photographer Yi-Pei Wu / the cloud amulet, 2025; Photographer Yi-Pei Wu / the dragon amulet, 2025; Photographer Felan Wu / the Tiger Deity amulet, 2025
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- Tainan Embroidery unites factories in Tainan to showcase industrial excellence. Highlights include an amulet with 40000 stitches and another using delicate lingerie lace technology, a unique cross-industry application. The tote bag, designed specifically for temple ritual gifts, is made from circular yarn up cycled from factory leftover threads. Merging religious heritage with upcoming artists, Tainan Embroidery transforms invisible Original Equipment Manufacturer into a cultural brand, turning traditional amulets into collectible high-end art.
- Inspiration
- Tainan has been the embroidery hub of Taiwan. While many offshored, few resilient factories stayed, preserving high quality machine embroidery. Yet, facing the cheap competitors, these makers need to evolve from suppliers into recognised brands. Hence Tainan Embroidery is launched, partnering with Tiantan Temple, we innovate their most stable demand: religious textiles. Artists deconstructed temple visual heritage, such as deity statues, handcrafted pillars, and ancient tapestries, into modern motifs.
- Research
- This research investigates the intersection of cultural heritage and industrial manufacturing. Through ethnographic studies and technical consultations, sacred motifs like the One-Character Plaque are translated into a modern visual language. Key innovations include sustainable circular yarns and high-density hollow-out lace techniques. User-centric methodologies ensure optimal ergonomics, creating a seamless alignment between spiritual symbols and contemporary lifestyle.
- Challenge
- The core challenge was resolving complex cross-disciplinary conflicts under severe time constraints: Craft Constraints: Adapting modern design to strict small-scale embroidery limits. Mindset Shift: Persuading struggling factories to prioritize R&D over a cost-driven OEM mentality. Sacred Innovation: Balancing novel aesthetics with temple traditions and religious sanctity. All achieved under a highly compressed grant schedule.
- Realization and Technology
- The lingerie-tech Love amulet features a monolithic hollow design, integrating the cord through iterative prototyping, with inner mesh pockets for incense ashes. The Dragon edition combines 40,000-stitch density with printing for delicate scales. The tote uses circular yarn, which is up-cycled factory remnants, overlaid with translucent mesh to create a cloud-like effect. To secure these recycled threads, a dense embroidery layout was engineered, turning material constraints into a modern aesthetic.
- Operation and Interaction
- The design encourages tactile engagement through ritualistic interactions. The Wisdom amulet features a hidden lace element that users can pull out and tuck back, symbolising the unveiling of wisdom. The Tiger Deity amulet includes a detachable cloak, allowing users to interact with the deity’s protective layers. These playful, transformative elements bridge the gap between traditional sacred objects and modern lifestyle accessories, enhancing the user's bond with the culture.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in July 2025 and finished in December 2025 in Tainan, Taiwan.
- Specifications
- Tote bag: 360 mm x 120 mm x 180 mm Tiger Deity amulet: 105 mm x 8 mm x 80 mm Cloud amulet: 100 mm x 5 mm x 75 mm Love amulet: 45 mm x 3 mm x 130 mm Wisdom amulet: unfold 45 mm x 5 mm x 235 mm, fold 45 mm x 8 mm x 70 mm Dragon amulet: 65 mm x 5 mm x 75 mm Watch amulet: Radius 50 mm, Depth 12 mm
- Keywords
- Cultural Heritage, Contemporary Amulet, Sustainable Bag, Machine Embroidery, Upcycled Textiles, Wearable Art, Spiritual Design, Oriental Aesthetics, Cross Industry Manufacturing
