What is considered as a good design may be subjective – if we are talking about aesthetics – but it is a truth universally acknowledged that a good design must enhance lives. For the Design Business Chamber Singapore (DBCS), a good design must empower enterprises and users with products and services that enhance lives and businesses.

The DBCS, together with the support of the DesignSingapore Council, launched the Singapore Good Design Mark (SG Mark) in October 2013 as part of a strategy for positioning Singapore as a premier design hub. Franchised from Japan’s Good Design Mark (G Mark), the SG Mark serves as an endorsement of products and services that embody good design. Since its inception, DBCS has awarded a total of 176 products and services with the SG Mark with the latest 36 being awarded this March.

“This year, we’re encouraged to see sustainability emerging as an important and common thread among SG Mark winners. This underscores the need for better user experience and comfort, doing more with less, to achieve sustainability in design,” says President of DBCS Tai Lee Siang.

The Platinum SG Mark, the highest mark given in the programme, was awarded to Oasia Hotel Downtown, designed by WOHA for the Far East Organisation. Three projects won the Gold Mark; the Airmotion mask (designed by Leonard Tan Baroocha for Airmotion Laboratories), OCBC’s OneWealth mobile app (designed by Jin Kang), and The Peach Garden (a private residential project in Shanghai by Kris Lin International Design).

The Airmotion mask allows users to participate in outdoor activities in poor air conditions; it also aims to remove the stigma of the air mask as a sign of sickness with an attractive sporty design. OCBC’s Onewealth app was commended for providing a friendly and simple investment banking experience while The Peach Garden was lauded for creating a unique landscape that embodies a Chinese fairytale.

Special Mentions were awarded to The Big Picture, a 25-by-60-metre-tall video wall at Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre, and Waterway Terraces I and II designed by Aedas and group8asia for HDB. A Special Mention for a Research Project was awarded to InnoGPS, a data-driven interactive visualisation technology by a team from SUTD. Among the other 29 projects that were awarded an SG Mark were St Luke’s Eldercare project by D’Perception Ritz, which converted a HDB void deck into facilities for seniors; Virgo, a spherical miniature robot by a team from SUTD; and The Siena, a residential project by Arc Studio Architecture and Urbanism for Far East Organisation that allows homeowners to transform their living spaces with a set of sliding doors.

Winners of the SG Mark will be admitted to the final round of Japan’s G Mark for consideration to be selected for its highest level of awards.