HCE Wins 2022 Red Dot Design Award!

Hyundai Construction Equipment has been selected as the winner of the 2022 Red Dot Product Design Award. Given that the Red Dot Award is a globally renowned design prize also considered to be the Oscars of the design industry, HCE has proven its design capabilities to global customers and competitors with the award.

HCE Wins Red Dot Award 2022

With Its Excellent Product Design



Red Dot Design Award, one of the three esteemed design awards including the iF Design Award in Germany and IDEA in the US, started recognizing outstanding designs in 1995 in Germany. Every year, the award receives submissions from companies around the world and evaluates their creativity, innovativeness, and functionality. With thorough consideration, the award is granted to the best designs in three categories: Product Design, Brands & Communication Design, and Design Concept. Hyundai Construction has been honored with awards in the Product Design category with the designs of its next-generation mini excavators HX35Az, HX40A, and HX48Az. 

The mini excavators that won HCE the Red Dot Award have a tail lamp design that gets its motif from tigers, an animal that symbolizes agility and endurance. Named the "Tiger Eyes" design, the tail lamp has been acclaimed for its environmental sustainability and convenience at work sites.

The mini excavators are environmentally sustainable machines in that they satisfy Stage V standard, which is a regulation on emissions from non-road mobile machinery. Thus, coming up with its design, HCE strived to avoid including materials hazardous to the environment in manufacturing the machines by coloring the equipment further utilizing single-color graphics by parts. HCE also took convenience into account in designing the machine. The seats and the air conditioners have been placed ergonomically, minimizing the fatigue of the driver and maximizing their comfort. By adding a full glass door in the cabin, the company also aimed to enhance productivity during the machine's operation.

An Interview with Hyundai Genuine HCE Design Team

Senior Engineer Jeong Byeong Hyuk

It is uncommon for construction equipment to be awarded the world's most renowned design prize. Behind this commendation is an enormous amount of effort from Hyundai Construction Equipment's design team. We had an interview with Jeong Byeong Hyuk, the senior engineer from HCE's design team, to know more about this outstanding achievement.

Q. How is the HCE's design team structured?

The design team belongs to Hyundai Genuine's design center. The design center has two teams in it, the HCE team and the HDI (Hyundai Doosan Infracore) team. The teams include members that work on the exterior design and the interior design, and the color & trim design.

Q. We don't really get to hear those design categories. Could you elaborate?

The exterior design is the outer appearance of the equipment. Based on the expertise that allows them to take the usability of the machinery as well as the quality and manufacturability of the parts into account, members aim to create a design that does not deviate from the image of the brand yet holds a distinctive and creative identity.

The interior design is the design inside the equipment, largely of the cabin area. Members create ergonomic designs that enhance usability and productivity while satisfying the customer's aesthetic needs that the stereotypical appearance of "sturdy" construction machines cannot provide.

The color & trim design refers to the designing of the colors for paints, decals, and graphics used for the exterior. It also includes technical tasks such as applying surface treatment techniques to interior molding trims. This part of the designing process has a huge influence on the final quality of the machine.

Q. What kind of designing works do you do at Hyundai Genuine?

The design center is in charge of overall product designs, including those of mini, compact, medium and large excavators as well as the wheel loaders industrial vehicles, and parts. We basically design everything the company makes.

Q. What does the design team's work routine look like?

We don't have to go through inefficient report and confirmation procedures to maximize productivity, so we can spend most of our work hours making creative designs and discussing them with the manufacturing/sales departments.

We also design every new model under development from HCE and HDI. Furthermore, we provide concept model designs that encompass new technologies and brand values of each company to suggest future visions and goals for the companies.

Q. What procedures does a design go through until it is complete? How long does it take?

For new models that get their design fully modified, we first set our design range and goals by performing trend research on our competitors and similar products. Then we come up with preliminary designs based on the product identity (PI), from which one final design theme is selected through a process called Theme Selection. With the selected final design, we create 3D data of the concept design and evaluate its manufacturability, mold formability, and assemblability. With the 3D data, we have discussions on the evaluation results to make modifications and improvements which usually takes about 10 months. Even after the 3D data-based discussion process, we go through detailed modification processes such as making a prototype, evaluating the prototype, and its mass-manufacturability.

Q. What makes the designs of HCE's machines distinctive?

We came up with a product concept of Refined Boldness, which expresses our ambition to create a bold, daring, and strong impression on the users. By applying the sharp and angular "Tiger Eyes" tail lamp design to our products, we form an integrated product identity.

Q. There seems to be people who consider the designing work as a simple painting job. What could be the point into which you put the most consideration?

They might think so because most of the construction equipment companies have their unique brand color. However, a lot of effort goes into the cabin interior design because unlike cars, construction machines must be operated in harsh conditions for long hours.

We always try to put ourselves into the drivers' shoes. We analyze the average posture of the driver to design an ergonomic layout for the seat, control lever, pedals, clusters, and switches. In addition to providing comfort and convenience to the user operating the machinery, we strive to satisfy the aesthetic quality of the machines and integrate the recent technological trends into the designs.

Q. Let us move onto your achievement, the winning of the 2022 Red Dot Award. Have you ever received such a prize?

Of course. With our reach type electric forklift, we have been awarded the best prize in the 2005 Design for Asia Award by Hong Kong Design Center and Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). We also have previously been awarded by Red Dot in 2012 with our compact forklift. Although it was an honorable mention then, we won an award this time in the product award category after ten years of hard work.

Q. Is there any particular reason for the consistent submission to design awards?

It has been proven that design adds value not only to construction equipment but to engines, vessels, robots, electric and electronic parts, and other products in heavy-machine industries. Gaining recognition from renowned global design awards such as Red Dot Design Award is the best way to convey our prominence in design to our customers, which grants them satisfaction and trust in our products. Not to mention winning such an award can be used as a great sales point.

Q. What makes you proudest, or when do you get the most fulfillment working in the design team?

The fact that the design center is at the forefront of the company's goal of becoming one of the top five global construction equipment companies makes me engaged in my work. Although there are numerous difficulties, we are making innovative attempts in design that have never been seen in conventional construction machines with cooperation from other teams. When the market and our customers recognize and commend our dedicated efforts and it leads to an increase in our sales, that would be the moment that I feel the most fulfilled and proudest.



Jeong concluded the interview by saying he will "do his best to create designs that prioritize user convenience and environment as well as machines that show outstanding performance." The ambition seen in his words would be the fuel that boosts HCE to become the top five global construction equipment companies.