Yuanlin (Ryan) Hu Wins 2025 Red Dot Design Award for Third-Year Student Project

Industrial Design student Yuanlin (Ryan) Hu has won a 2025 Red Dot Design Award for his third-year student project.

Her, a 3D-printed standing lamp, won in the Design Concept category, which recognizes future-oriented concepts and prototypes that are not yet mass-produced.

“I never expected to win,” Ryan says. “It was my first time applying for an award. It’s very exciting.”

Established in 1954 and vetted by an international jury, the prestigious Red Dot Design Awards recognize quality design across disciplines, from communication and brand design concepts to industrial design objects. Winners of a Red Dot Design Award have their work presented online, in yearbooks and in exhibitions at Red Dot Design Museums in Essen, Xiamen and Singapore.

In addition to Her’s recognition by Red Dot, the lamp appeared at the 2025 Interior Design Show in Vancouver and received international awards, including a Muse Design Award (USA) and an A’ Design Award (Italy).

Ryan’s winning design was created as part of his classwork and refined over the summer. He says his work is informed by the philosophy of Poetic Design, which aims to create objects that are both functional as well as meaningful, emotional or contemplative.

For Ryan, lighting has the greatest potential to evoke such responses. He notes that a person’s experience of space can be transformed by the way it is lit.

“When you enter a home, if the light is cold, you’ll not feel welcome, but a warm light can make you feel safe and calm,” he says.

But Her holds personal resonance for Ryan as well. As an international student from Shanghai, he says he often found himself missing his mother’s company. So, he took her silhouette as an inspiration for the lamp’s form.

“I wanted to create a light that felt very soothing,” he says. “So, this lamp is also called an emotional lamp. I hope that everyone who sees Her will recall their own loved one, a friend or a comforting figure, giving the lamp meaning beyond illumination.”

Her is also designed around the idea of “decentralization” — a concept that has become increasingly important for Ryan. Rather than creating a limited edition, Ryan wanted to share his design widely. So, he created the 3D-printed lamp to be reproducible by anyone.

The shades are made from a recycled plastic that can be crushed and reused for new 3D-printed projects once the lamp reaches the end of its life. And while the lamp does require a small number of non-3D-printed parts, Ryan designed it to accept the most widely available, internationally standardized sizes.

He has also made the 3D files available for download, so anyone with access to a printer can produce the design locally. For instance, he is currently collaborating with a 3D-printing company in Squamish, BC, to enable residents to print his lamp onsite. He notes this reduces the carbon footprint associated with shipping and presents a more sustainable vision for the future of furniture manufacturing.

Inspired by a recent talk at ECU by Caine Heintzman (BDes 2009), an award-winning Vancouver-based designer and co-founder of lighting design studio ANDlight, Ryan says he plans to spend the final year of his degree studies focusing on a series of modular lighting objects.

In the longer term, Ryan hopes to pursue master’s studies, develop connections within the international design community, and raise awareness for his fledgling brand, DECXII.

In the meantime, he is open to collaboration and can be reached by direct message through the DECXII Instagram account.