Folding Plug by Min-Kyu Choi Wins the Brit Insurance Design Award 2010
Nominated for Designs of the Year Product Award 2010
Jury Chair Antony Gormley and Min-Kyu Choi
Min-Kyu Choi was awarded the Brit Insurance Design Award 2010 last night at the Awards Ceremony at the museum.
The winner in the product category Min-Kyu truimphed with his elegant design and transformation of the everyday plug.
Awards Presenter Sarah Montague, Min-Kyu Choi and Antony Gormley
18 Responses to “Folding Plug by Min-Kyu Choi Wins the Brit Insurance Design Award 2010”
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17th March 2010
Categorised Under
Overall Winner 2010, Product 2010, news 2010
Tags: Folding Plug, Min-Kyu Choi
It’s always the simplest designs that are the most elegant and inspired.
It would be brilliant if this became the standard design - ordinary plugs are so bulky, and ugly too. Well done indeed to the designer!
Brilliant product. Like most, ‘why has no one…etc’. astounding, I wish I was marketing it. Good job Min-Kyu.
A
Where does the fuse go? Oh and the wires, nice design, but practical?
He is such a humble genius. His design is simple but most practical.
Well done!^^
“Where does the fuse go? Oh and the wires, nice design, but practical?”… Take a look at http://www.minkyu.co.uk/Site/Product/Entries/2009/4/20_Folding_Plug_System.html - you will see this is far more than a nice design, this is a well thought through and developed solution. Well done Min-Kyu.
See the designers site for details;
http://www.minkyu.co.uk/Site/Product/Entries/2009/4/20_Folding_Plug_System.html
Tim: The fuse is in the central barrel and the wires can be seen in the images above, the grey part. Practical, very. I for one look forwards to fitting this on all of my mobile devices chargers.
Disclosure: I am a member of Design London the group set up between Imperial College and RCA who are helping Min-Kyu and his team to bring this product into reality.
certainly a great design, elegant and exquisitely made
yes i am looking forward to this going into production
Well done to Min-Kyu Choi!
Simple and elegant… however, It’s the wires that are the problem,
not the plugs.
Thanks for setting me straight. I was not intending to cause offence, the article does not clarify the actual functionality of the design. Looking into it further the plug seems vey practical. Meet the CE mark and manufacturing price and this product could be seen everywhere. Nothing worse than being stabbed by the 3 prongs.
That’s really cool, an extension to this would be a sort of universal plug that could be used internationally in different kind of sockets.
There really is a jungle of different sockets out there;
http://www.countryplug.com
I think Tim (March 17,3pm) makes the point that I am surprised has not been mentioned more widely in media commentary today. It is tremendously painful to tread or fall on an upturned plug!
Aside from aesthetics, the limitiation of that risk in itself is praiseworthy. I hope it does very well for the inventor.
This is brilliant. I want to buy it now.
I do have a couple of questions though.
1. How durable is it? Can it be dropped or stepped on and still work?
2. Can it replace current plugs or is it factory only?
3. When is it likely to hit market?
Great design! I have my doubts as to the plugs suitability for higher wattage appliances(those taking greater than a 3 amp fuse. I also have reservations about the adapter that let;s you cascade three plugs to one socket, if the adapter itself isn’t fused then I can’t see it complying with UK wiring regs etc.
But again, design of the basic plug is fantastic, some point just need confirming/making clearer.
It is a great design. I would love to buy it and send few to my friends.
To Design a Product based on specific Standard such BS or IEC with such like innovation it means, no one have any execuse to escap from innovation, and creativity.
It would be illegal to offer this design for sale
Min-Kyu Choi completely failed to understand the requirements of BS 1363 (which is essential to sell in the UK) and appears not to understand why those requirements are essential to ensure safety. BS 1363 requires the live and neutral pins to be at least 9.5 mm from the periphery of the plug, Min-Kyu Choi’s folding wings cannot meet this requirement as there is nothing to stop the plug being used with the wings in the closed position. BS 1363 also requires that the fuse be inaccessible when the plug is in use, this is not the case in Min-Kyu Choi’s design, and is not achievable within the dimensions of his folding plug.
To make matters worse there were already two viable designs registered (Slim Plug and Thin Plug) which conform to BS 1363