Innovation doesn’t live in laboratories or concept boards; it lives in the products we touch, use, and rely on every single day. At Yanko Design, we’re perpetually fascinated by the moment when brilliant ideas transform into tangible reality, when visionary design meets manufacturing prowess to create products that genuinely improve our lives. This transformation is precisely what the Red Dot Award: Product Design celebrates with unmatched prestige. The 2025 “Best of Best” winners represent more than just exceptional design; they’re proof that great products can reshape entire industries while seamlessly integrating into our daily routines.
What sets this year’s selection apart is the remarkable diversity of problem-solving approaches. From groundbreaking consumer electronics that redefine how we interact with technology, to sustainable solutions that address our planet’s most pressing challenges, these winning products demonstrate that thoughtful design isn’t just about aesthetics but about creating meaningful impact through meticulous execution. The Red Dot’s rigorous evaluation process continues to serve as the gold standard for identifying products that successfully bridge the gap between ambitious vision and market reality. We’re excited to share our carefully curated selection of standout winners that caught our attention for all the right reasons.
01. LG Transparent OLED TV-77T4 by LG Electronics, Inc.
Remember when TVs were these massive black rectangles that dominated whatever room they occupied? LG’s design team clearly decided that was getting old and went completely in the opposite direction with the Transparent OLED TV-77T4. This isn’t just another thin TV; it’s a 77-inch screen that’s practically invisible when turned off, embedded in a sleek aluminum frame that doubles as actual furniture. When you’re watching content, images appear to float in mid-air like some kind of holographic magic trick, creating that campfire effect where people naturally gather around just to witness the spectacle.
What makes this design genuinely brilliant is how LG solved the fundamental problem of transparent displays: sometimes you actually want a traditional viewing experience. Hit a button and motorized fabric panels deploy to give you that classic black screen for serious movie watching, while the wireless AV solution keeps cables to an absolute minimum. The modular aluminum structure isn’t just aesthetic; it creates a shelf system that integrates into your interior like a piece of modern furniture rather than dominating it like traditional TVs. It’s the kind of product that makes you realize we’ve been thinking about televisions all wrong, treating them as appliances when they could be architectural elements that enhance rather than interrupt our living spaces.
02. MAZZU Mattress by LAYER, Benjamin Hubert
Sleep is one of those things we all desperately need but rarely get right, and more often than not, it comes down to that slab of springs and padding we call a mattress. LAYER’s Benjamin Hubert clearly got fed up with the “one-size-fits-nobody” approach that dominates the mattress industry and decided to completely reimagine how we think about sleep surfaces. The MAZZU isn’t just another mattress; it’s a modular system that treats your bed like a customizable piece of furniture rather than a monolithic block you’re stuck with for the next decade.
What makes MAZZU genuinely brilliant is its snap-fit pocket spring system that lets you configure different firmness zones exactly where you need them. Too soft on your side but perfect for your partner? Just swap out those modules. Moving to a different bed frame? Reconfigure the size. Need to wash a section or replace a worn area? Pop it out and deal with just that piece. By ditching foam entirely in favor of lightweight, recyclable polymers and textiles that connect without adhesives, LAYER has created something that’s not just better for your back but actually sustainable. It’s the kind of thoughtful design that makes you wonder why nobody figured this out sooner.
03. HORL® Scissors by Timo Horl, Otmar Horl
You’d think scissors hit their design peak sometime around the Bronze Age, but the father-son team at HORL clearly never got that memo. What started as a simple quest to create a better way to sharpen household scissors spiraled into a three-year obsession that completely reimagined one of humanity’s most basic tools. The HORL scissors aren’t just another pair of kitchen shears; they’re precision instruments that happen to cut things, engineered with the kind of meticulous attention usually reserved for Swiss watches or German automotive components.
The real genius lies in that spring-loaded quick-release mechanism that keeps both halves under dynamic tension until you need to sharpen them. When you overcome that resistance threshold, they audibly release with a satisfying click that lets you know you’re dealing with serious engineering. This isn’t just about making cuts; it’s about making clean cuts along the entire blade length, every single time, with high-grade forged steel that’s built to outlast your kitchen, your house, and possibly your grandchildren. HORL essentially created the last pair of scissors you’ll ever need to buy, which is either a terrible business strategy or the most confident design statement ever made. Given that these are acoustically, visually, and functionally perfect according to the Red Dot jury, we’re betting on the latter.
04. 2050 Edible Cutlery by Weirong New Material Technology
Single-use plastic cutlery is one of those environmental villains that’s so ubiquitous we barely notice it anymore, but the team at Weirong New Material Technology clearly couldn’t ignore the mounting waste crisis. Their solution is brilliantly simple yet technically complex: cutlery made entirely from food waste that you can literally eat when you’re done with your meal. Using rice flour curds, soy protein, and tapioca starch, they’ve created utensils that can handle hot soup for an hour at 55°C, then either become dessert or compost in your garden within two weeks.
What makes this design particularly impressive is how they solved the inherent brittleness of starch-based materials through pure engineering rather than synthetic reinforcement. The handle design alone required numerous trials to achieve the right balance of rigidity and flexibility, proving that sustainability doesn’t have to mean compromising on functionality. The fact that they’ve developed variants for different global eating habits, plus chocolate and vanilla-flavored options, shows they’re thinking beyond the novelty factor toward genuine market adoption. This isn’t just eco-friendly tableware; it’s a complete rethinking of the disposable utensil category that makes plastic forks look ridiculously outdated.
05. Novara Cantilever Umbrella by Zhejiang Zhengte Co., Ltd.
Outdoor umbrellas are one of those products that everyone needs but nobody really thinks about until they’re wrestling with a heavy, unwieldy shade that refuses to cooperate with the sun’s movement. The design team at Zhejiang Zhengte clearly spent time watching people struggle with cantilever umbrellas and realized the problem wasn’t just about size and weight, but about how different people naturally interact with these oversized objects. Their solution was refreshingly human-centered: extensive studies revealed that tall people adjust umbrellas from behind using upper body strength, while shorter individuals work from the side using both hands and lower body leverage.
The Novara’s genius lies in its front-mounted handle system that encourages an intuitive upward movement, like lifting a dumbbell, making it accessible regardless of your height or strength. The conical grip for horizontal adjustment was specifically designed with older users in mind, while the perfectly matched base ships in the same box to eliminate the usual post-purchase headache of finding compatible accessories. Built primarily from recycled materials, the Novara represents what the designers call “emotional longevity” – creating something so well-designed and user-friendly that people will actually want to keep it around for years rather than replacing it after one frustrating season.
06. TN1 Fan Heater by Shenzhen Lanhe Technologies Co., Ltd.
Fan heaters have always been caught in that frustrating design trap where you can either have something that looks decent or something that actually heats your room properly, but rarely both. The team at Shenzhen Lanhe Technologies clearly got tired of this compromise and decided to completely reimagine what a domestic heater could be. The TN1’s racetrack-inspired oval form isn’t just aesthetically striking; it’s a clever engineering solution that extends the heating element’s surface area without turning your heater into a bulky eyesore that dominates your baseboard.
But the real magic happens when you turn this thing on. The heating element gently rises up through an integrated lifting mechanism, creating this almost organic moment where the appliance seems to come alive and acknowledge your presence. It’s not just theatrical flourish; this movement optimizes heat distribution while protecting the internals from dust when retracted. Combined with a graphene coating for enhanced thermal efficiency and a crossflow fan that accelerates once the element is fully extended, the TN1 delivers that rapid warmth we all desperately want from space heaters. The fact that it retracts flush when turned off means it disappears back into your interior design rather than permanently announcing its presence like most heating appliances.
07. Ferrari F80 by Ferrari Design Team (Dr. h. c. Flavio Manzoni)
Creating the next Ferrari supercar isn’t just about making something fast; it’s about continuing a bloodline that includes absolute legends like the GTO, F40, and LaFerrari. The Ferrari design team clearly felt the weight of that legacy when developing the F80, but instead of playing it safe, they made some genuinely radical decisions that push the entire supercar category forward. The controversial “1+” architecture completely reimagines the two-seater paradigm by placing the driver dead center with the passenger seat offset and almost invisible, creating this fighter jet-like focus that makes every other supercar interior look like a compromise.
What’s brilliant about the F80 is how this driver-centric philosophy cascades through every design decision. The slimmer cockpit doesn’t just look more dramatic; it broadens the car’s shoulders and improves aerodynamics, while that glass bubble cabin creates an almost spacecraft-like silhouette that’s pure visual poetry. The six slits in the rear engine compartment, each representing a cylinder, show how Ferrari’s designers think about the connection between mechanical function and sculptural form. This isn’t just another hypercar with aggressive styling; it’s a complete rethinking of what a Ferrari can be when designers, engineers, and aerodynamicists work as a unified team rather than competing departments. Whether the F80 achieves legendary status remains to be seen, but as a design statement, it’s already rewritten the supercar playbook.
08. Mac mini M4 by Apple Industrial Design Team
Apple’s Mac mini has always been the scrappy underdog of the Mac lineup, but the M4 version feels like it’s finally gotten the respect it deserves. Packing up to 1.8 times faster CPU performance and 2.2 times faster GPU performance into that same iconic aluminum box isn’t just impressive engineering; it’s a masterclass in thermal management and silicon optimization. Except now the box is also smaller, measuring just 5×5 inches in size. The fact that Apple Intelligence runs entirely on-device while maintaining privacy through end-to-end encrypted Private Cloud Compute shows how serious they are about making AI feel seamless rather than intrusive.
What really sets the M4 apart is Apple’s decision to completely rethink the thermal architecture, flowing air through multiple internal layers and exhausting it entirely through the bottom. It’s the kind of invisible innovation that makes everything else possible, allowing them to cram desktop-class performance into something you can literally hide behind your monitor. The addition of front-facing ports and Thunderbolt 5 in the Pro model shows Apple finally listened to users who wanted better connectivity without sacrificing the minimalist aesthetic. Plus, being the first carbon-neutral Mac means this tiny powerhouse isn’t just efficient with space and power; it’s efficient with the planet too. Sometimes the best designs are the ones that make incredible complexity look effortless.
09. nwm ONE by NTT sonority, 83Design Inc.
Most headphones follow the same basic formula: put speakers in cushioned cups and clamp them to your head, but the design team at NTT sonority clearly decided that approach was fundamentally flawed. The nwm ONE takes Dieter Rams’ “less, but better” philosophy to almost radical extremes, stripping away everything that isn’t absolutely essential, including the ear cushions that define virtually every other headphone on the market. What you’re left with is this impossibly minimal ring-shaped design that floats around your ears rather than sealing them off, creating a wearing experience that’s more like having invisible speakers following you around.
The real breakthrough is how they solved the obvious problem of open-ear headphones: sound leakage and ambient noise interference. Their proprietary PSZ (Personalised Sound Zone) technology uses inverse phase waves to cancel out sound leakage, essentially creating a bubble of audio that only you can hear while keeping your ears completely open to the world around you. The speaker units pivot to deliver sound directly into your ear canal without physical contact, while a two-way driver structure optimizes bass reproduction despite the open design. It’s the kind of technical wizardry that makes you wonder why we’ve been accepting the isolation and discomfort of traditional headphones for so long when this elegant solution was theoretically possible all along.
10. Nokia 5G 360 Camera by Nokia Group
Surveillance cameras have this unfortunate tendency to scream “you’re being watched” with aggressive, intimidating designs that make everyone uncomfortable. Nokia’s design team took the opposite approach with the 5G 360 Camera, embracing what they call “quiet intelligence” – the idea that good design doesn’t dominate but earns trust through restraint. This isn’t just philosophical posturing; it’s a practical recognition that surveillance technology works better when it blends seamlessly into its environment rather than announcing its presence like a digital gargoyle.
The genius is in what they left out: no protruding antennas, no fragile components, no bright colors or aggressive styling. Just a clean, dark grey form that makes dirt less visible while maintaining an understated authority. The 360-degree camera technology and 5G connectivity are packed into a surprisingly compact, lightweight package that’s tough enough for mining tunnels and wildfire zones, yet unobtrusive enough for public spaces. Replaceable protective lens covers mean this thing can keep working in harsh conditions without requiring complete replacement, while the shock and vibration resistance make it suitable for vehicles, ships, and drones. It’s surveillance technology that doesn’t make you feel surveilled, which might be the smartest design decision of all.
The post Top 10 Most Ingenious Designs That Will Change How You Live: Red Dot Awards 2025 Winners first appeared on Yanko Design.