Discover Taiwan’s Spirit: New Local Cultural and Creative Strengt
Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry is enriching local living aesthetics with endless creativity! According to the Ministry of Culture’s statistics, there was a total of 64,401 companies with NT$879.82 billion in production value involved in Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry in 2018. That represented 5.22% growth from 2016 at twice the national economic growth rate, indicating that the cultural and creative industry’s contribution to the country’s economy cannot be underestimated.
In the extremely competitive annual Taiwan Excellence Awards, we are glad to see many local cultural and creative companies, such as world-class hidden champions, sign up to compete for the highest honor available to our nation’s most innovative products! We have chosen to highlight three of these cultural and creative brands, including a groundbreaking product that uses green energy to create business opportunities, a design brand with unique craftsmanship, and a frequent winner that once won a total of 10 awards in a single year. They combine the best local elements in Taiwan with passion and creativity and showcase our thriving cultural and creative capacity in a unique way.
Taiwan Lung Meng turns stone into gold for global sustainability
Do you believe that paper can be made from stone? Taiwan Lung Meng Technology has successfully turned stone into gold by spending 17 years and investing NT$1.8 billion inthe research and developmentof Stone Paper that is not only eco-friendly, but also waterproof and burn-resistant. A ton of stone paper saves up to 20 trees, 7,480 gallons of water, and cuts carbon emissions in half. Compared with the traditional wood pulp paper, this Stone Paper is revolutionary andvery eco-friendly.
Stone paper is made through grinding marble tailings from Hualien into fine stone powder and adding a small number of eco-friendly plastics to manufacture paper that functions like wood pulp paper. Such a process uses inexhaustible stones instead of chopping down trees, and the technology is both the first in Taiwan and unrivaled globally as it has patents in 40 countries. These fine products are exported as far as Nigeria in Africa and Iran in the Middle East andeven the White House in the United States is a dedicated user! Its world’s first Waterproof Durable Stone Notebook Series won the 2020 Taiwan Excellence Gold Award and was designated by the Office of the President as a gift for guests attending the Presidential Inauguration on May 20. It is the best example of the green cultural and creative industry.
Fresh Taiwan’s digital paper cameras help retrieve yourearliest memories Lifelogging with videos and sharing touching moments have gradually become an integral part of our lives. In our highly digitalized society, major computer, communication, and consumer electronics companies seek to improve all related technologies. Unfortunately, ever more complicated features and functions have made the process less user-friendly and have obscured the initial reasons for taking photos.
As a winner of the Taiwan Excellence Award, Fresh Taiwan decided to traverse the blue ocean of the cultural and creative market instead of crossing the red ocean of computer, communication, and consumer electronics products in an attempt to use its product, Paper Shoot, to transform Taiwan’s camera industry from its traditional subcontracting roleinto a leading producer with a sustainable future. Its unique paper camera is a beautiful piece of artwork with image recording functions, which is botheasy to use and stylish. It simplifies photo shooting functions into a one-click operation and allows people to get back their pure loveof takingphotos.
YOW!Design showcases creativity and passion with its considerate design
With the low-key reveal of black binding rings, flexible assembly, and the compact size to fit in one hand, the “TO NOTE PRO Mushroom Hole Notebook” won the 2020 Taiwan Excellence Award. Small creativity leads to great convenience as itsolves the big issueof loose-leaf paper getting stuck easily and the inconvenience of exposed binding rings, thereby providing users with more freedom while integrating cultural and creative elements to enhance product value.
In addition to the Mushroom Hole notebooks, its effort-saving stapler, SUMO pencil sharpener, DAWN Double USB car charger, and multi-function portable charger have won a total of 10 prizes from Germany’s Red Dot Design Award, Japan’s Good Design Award, the United States’ International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) and Taiwan’s Golden Pin Design Award. Its Taiwanese cultural and creative strength is well known internationally and is a source of true pride for Taiwan.
The new local cultural and creative capacity not only fully demonstrates Taiwan’s outstanding craftsmanship, but also exemplifies Taiwan Excellence’s philosophy: Only innovation brings changes in life. With wisdom and creat