The 2025 Golden Pin Design Award has officially announced that Professor Apex Lin Pang Soong, Chair Professor of Digital Media Design at Asia University and Emeritus Professor of Design at National Taiwan Normal University, has been selected as this year’s recipient of the Honorary Award.

This recognition honors Professor Lin’s lifelong dedication to advancing design practice, education, and enhancing Taiwan’s presence on the global design stage. The award will be formally presented on December 5 at the Taipei Performing Arts Center. The Golden Pin Design Award annually grants the Honorary Award to individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the research, promotion, or practice of Taiwanese design. Nominees are recommended by local design organizations or current jury members and selected through a rigorous review process.

Professor Lin built his academic foundation at the Department of Fine Arts and the Graduate Institute of Fine Arts at National Taiwan Normal University. He later served his alma mater as professor, department chair, founding chair of the Department of Visual Design, and vice president, contributing significantly to its academic and institutional development. Drawing on his fine arts background, he developed a research-driven design philosophy rooted in culture and the arts. In the 1980s, he introduced the concept of Corporate Identity System (CIS) to Taiwan, authoring the influential book Corporate Identity System in 1985. He led identity projects for major institutions such as Chunghwa Telecom, Chunghwa Post, Taiwan Sugar Corporation, the National Palace Museum, Formosa TV, and Maywufa Group, thereby laying the theoretical and practical foundation of CIS design in Taiwan. Lin also expressed Taiwan’s cultural identity through poster design. His renowned My Taiwan series, centered on symbolic imagery representing Taiwan, has been collected by institutions in Germany, the United States, China, Mexico, Japan, and Taiwan.

Over several decades, Professor Lin has played a pivotal role in connecting Taiwan with the global design community. In 1991, he co-founded the Taiwan Image Poster Design Association and served as its first president, encouraging Taiwanese designers to explore regional identity, convey social messages, and engage in global discourse. From 1999 to 2003, he supported various Taiwanese design organizations in joining ICOGRADA, and from 2001 to 2003, he served as Treasurer—the first Taiwanese executive board member of an international design body—significantly raising Taiwan’s visibility in the global design field. Since 2008, he has led the Ministry of Education’s Taiwan International Student Design Competition (TISDC), helping it become one of the world’s largest student design competitions. Under his leadership, more than 20 international design organizations have participated as jurors or sponsors, further expanding Taiwan’s global design network.

Widely known as a mentor in Taiwan’s design community, Professor Lin has dedicated many years to design education and nurturing young talent. Since 2006, he has overseen the Ministry of Education’s IDC program, which actively supports students in entering international art and design competitions—resulting in over 2,000 student projects receiving international recognition. Recently, he has focused on preserving Taiwan’s design heritage, establishing the Taiwan Design Corner—a micro-museum near NTNU’s Department of Design—based on his lifelong collection of design artifacts. The space serves as an educational resource for students and professionals, and hosts annual exhibitions and international exchanges. He also founded the Taiwan Design Research Award to promote academic research into Taiwan’s design history and identity.

Professor Lin’s contributions have been widely recognized both at home and abroad. He received the National Award for Arts in 2007, the ICOGRADA Achievement Award in Education in 2011, the DFA Grand Award in 2018, the Cultural Collaboration Medal from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture in 2023, and the ADP Jury’s Special Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2025. His work has deeply influenced not only Taiwan but also the global design culture. The 2025 Honorary Award honors his longstanding dedication to design as a medium for cultural understanding and international exchange. In his remarks, Professor Lin expressed gratitude to his mentors, colleagues, and students, highlighting the IDC and TISDC programs as representative of his design philosophy. He emphasized that these programs have played a critical role in bringing Taiwan to the global stage and showcasing the excellence of Taiwanese design. He also stressed that this award is not a personal honor, but one he receives on behalf of the entire Taiwanese design community.

The Golden Pin Design Award Ceremony will take place on December 5 at the Taipei Performing Arts Center, where the Honorary Award as well as winners of the Best Design of the Year and Special Annual Awards will be announced. The ceremony will be livestreamed on the official Golden Pin Design Award YouTube channel in both Mandarin and English, accessible to viewers around the world.

Viewers around the world can watch the event live via the official Golden Pin Design Award YouTube channel: bit.ly/3MDPBpD

editor@asiadesignprize.com