The Youth Whiz Design contest was held for the second time at the spring Giftionery Taipei 2000 exhibition from April 21-25. Students from design-related departments of eleven colleges in Taiwan participated in the competition. Developed and organized by the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA), the contest brought together some of the island's top young talent with major buyers in the giftware and stationery industries.

According to CETRA, the Youth Whiz competition is aimed at helping talented young designers "achieve their aim of making a career in this expanding industry." However, the purpose is actually twofold: in the process of giving the designers a boost, it also helps to lift standards across the whole gift and stationery industry. Some of the designers have already won international design awards.

Each design college makes a primary selection of the items that they want to present at the show and then CETRA officials cast the final vote. "Buyers have a chance to get in on the ground floor of a booming industry," noted a CETRA spokesperson. Taiwan's gift and stationery industry is making inroads in the American, European and Japanese markets. Therefore, this show is a good opportunity for the students to present the quality and innovation of Taiwan-made goods. Buyers have the chance to bid on the display items in special meeting rooms with representatives on hand from the various colleges. Once a deal has been finalized, the item is removed from the display area. Money from the transaction is actually handed to the students, although some colleges may charge students a management fee, noted Leann Yu, a specialist in CETRA"s Design Promotion Center

"However, it's not a free for all," comments Yu. Buyers must register in order to make a bid, and only CEOs or equivalent company representatives can participate in the bidding. Also, to protect designers' intellectual property rights, all design works are patented before going on display at the show.

Last year, the Youth Whiz competition presented award-winning designs created by students from eight industrial design colleges. Of the 63 winning designs, a total of 13 were sold to manufacturers who plan to develop the ideas into commercial products. This year there were 74 items on display, 12 of which were sold to buyers for between US$700 and US$2,000 per item. A total of US$13,000 was generated from the sales.

More than 330 companies and 450 joined the bidding process. Additionally, many manufacturers expressed an interest in cooperating in internship programs with the design colleges, with the plan of considering the students as potential future employees. Overall, Taiwan manufacturers who are used to doing OEM business were positive about the results of the contest.

Some of the creative giftware products on display included the following items:

visitors
Radio	EVA Bank

Radio with Clock	Radio with Clock

Lemon Squeezer	Cellular Phone Holder

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