CIFF Shanghai | 2025 Golden Creation Award Annual Home Design Trend Report

On June 6, empowered by the 15-year industry accumulation of the Golden Hall Award and the industrial platform of CIFF Shanghai, the Golden Creation Award was officially launched globally in Shanghai, guided by its core mission of “Design Creates Value, Empowering Better Living.”

The birth of the Golden Creation Award responds to a deeper question of our time: in an era of material abundance, what truly defines good design? Through a rigorous evaluation system and an integrated industrial perspective, the award provides a clear and powerful answer — good design should resonate with people, solve real problems, empower industries, and lead future trends.

Data Insights: A Diversified Development Landscape

The 2025 Golden Creation Award entries are divided into two main categories: product design and curatorial design. The proportion changes between submissions and shortlisted entries clearly reflect participation patterns and evaluation orientations within the home design industry.

From the perspective of submission data, product design companies dominate with 73.2%, serving as the core driving force of the industry. Independent product designers account for 12.07%, highlighting the rise of original local design force. Curatorial design companies represent 6.88%. Spatial designers account for 4.4% and 1.59% in curatorial and product design categories respectively. Academic institutions account for only 1.16%, while graphic designers represent the smallest share at 0.7%. Overall, the participation landscape shows a pattern of “industry-led with diversified participation.”

Smart Leadership: Technology Serving Everyday Life

Intelligence as a design trend is no longer a simple stacking of technologies, but a deep integration into real-life scenarios. Outstanding works this year, such as Ombra Smart Viewing Pavilion, UFM DESIGN, and SS156 Smart Lift Window by Qiannuo, integrate intelligent technology with real living environments, balancing safety, efficiency, and sustainability. These designs not only enhance indoor and outdoor safety, but also demonstrate the practical value of intelligent design, allowing technology to truly return to the essence of everyday life.

Human-Centered Design: Conveying Emotional Warmth

UFPLUSM UFM DESIGN

Playful furniture brands such as Kele Cat Cabinet and Xiaokong Chengxiang capture subtle emotional needs in living spaces, even addressing emerging lifestyles such as co-living with pets and turning design into a medium that conveys warmth and fosters a relaxed, comforting way of life. Meanwhile, designs like the MO MAEK Ink Fragrance Gift Box and THESHAW’s Sun-Moon-Star Series integrate Eastern aesthetics into modern design. Design is no longer a cold object, but a meaningful medium that carries emotion and enhances the experience of life.

Scenario Segmentation: Precision in Living Solutions

With the diversification of lifestyles, living needs are shifting from generalization to specialization. Outstanding works this year capture this trend by focusing on specific scenarios and user groups, addressing real-life challenges through refined design and unlocking value across diverse living contexts.

For example, the Step Chair adopts the concept of “sit anywhere,” adapting to temporary resting needs; the 1998K Chair cleverly combines the functions of a bar stool and a backrest chair, expanding usage scenarios. In outdoor furniture, HIGOLD integrates metal craftsmanship with outdoor aesthetics to create comfortable and artistic leisure spaces, while Aimer House emphasizes “centrality” in design, promoting social interaction through fluid forms and enhancing outdoor living experiences.

Based on an analysis of this year’s Golden Creation Award-winning works and the current development of the home furnishing design industry, several key directions have emerged for designers.

First, cross-disciplinary integration. Designers are encouraged to step beyond traditional boundaries, approaching the field with a mindset open to transformation. By drawing inspiration from multiple disciplines, they can break industry barriers and drive innovative breakthroughs.

Second, technology empowerment. Designers should actively embrace emerging technologies, including AI, and integrate them deeply into design, production, and user scenarios to strengthen their core competitiveness.

Fourth, commitment to passion. Designers should stay dedicated to what is both challenging and meaningful, creating works that genuinely solve real-world problems through thoughtful design.

Fifth, openness and collaboration. While continuously building their own core strengths, designers should also adopt an open mindset toward cross-sector collaboration—whether through industry-academia-research partnerships or design implementation with enterprises—to foster a more integrated and synergistic industry ecosystem.

2025 marks the inaugural year of value for the Golden Creation Award. From the establishment of a rigorous evaluation system to the announcement of a distinguished list of winners, the Award has taken a solid and confident first step. This milestone has not only brought to light a group of outstanding works that combine design excellence with industrial value, but also reflects our firm commitment to advancing China’s home furnishing design and supporting the upgrading of the industry.

As the year draws to a close, we see an even broader road ahead. With the Year of the Horse approaching, we look forward to moving forward together with industry peers—carrying the spirit of strength, speed, and determination—toward a new journey in design. Together, we aim to ensure that more truly meaningful designs—those that solve real problems and create real value—are recognized, applied, and remembered.

Best Product Design of the Year

Best Quality of the Year

Curator of the Year

Exhibition Booth Designer of the Year

Best Exhibition Booth Design Award

Best Product Design Nomination

Outstanding Exhibition Booth Design Award

Innovation Breakthrough Award

Intelligent Design Pioneer Award

岁末回望，我们更觉前路宽广。恰逢丙午马年将至，我们愿与行业同仁一道，秉持骏马奔腾之势，一往无前，共赴设计新征程，让更多解决真问题、创造真价值的好设计被看见、被应用、被铭记！