At 25, She Became One of the Youngest AAPI Female Founders to Win One of the World's Most Prestigious Design Awards for a Lamp That Makes You Smile
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NEW YORK - illiNews -- At 23, as a recent design school graduate with no outside funding or experience in the e-commerce space, Chevy Chanpaiboonrat walked away from her first full-time job to build a hardware company from scratch, or what most people would call "just a lamp." Two years later, she just won one of the most prestigious design awards in the world.

Buddy Design is proud to announce that the Buddy Portable Mood & Table Lamp Collection has been awarded the iF DESIGN AWARD 2026. The iF DESIGN AWARD is recognized as one of the world's most renowned design honors. Run by the independent iF Design Foundation in Germany, the award has served as a global benchmark for outstanding design excellence and impact for over 70 years.

The accolade was awarded in the Product Design discipline under iF DESIGN AWARD's Lighting category, recognizing Buddy's innovative approach to restoring emotional wellbeing and mindfulness through emotive analog lighting. As an AAPI solo female founder, Chanpaiboonrat represents a rare and necessary voice in the hardware and wellness space, one that centers empathy, emotional design, and the quiet power of intentional living.

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With its redefining lighting through anthropomorphic forms, color psychology, and tactile the brand's iconic analog user interface, the Buddy Portable Mood & Table Lamp Collection impressed an international jury of 129 independent design experts. The collection introduces a new category of emotive analog lighting through three portable tabletop mood lamps, Teddy and Puppy, which are design-patented, and Arvin, whose design patent is pending, each translating a distinct emotional archetype into form to collectively support the user's emotional wellbeing through both day and night.

The urgency behind Buddy's design is backed by sobering data. Over 91% of people report screen fatigue and difficulty disconnecting after work, 83% say artificial light and digital clutter heighten their stress and mental fatigue, and 70% of people struggle to stay present while spending 10 or more hours daily on screens. Buddy's own user research found that 90% of users report wellness benefits, 83% feel calmer after just 10 minutes of use, and 94% describe Buddy as a positive emotional presence in their space.

This year's iF DESIGN AWARD saw over 10,000 submissions from 68 countries. Winning signals Buddy Design as an industry leader and the Buddy Portable Mood & Table Lamp Collection as among the most outstanding designs in its field, an impressive achievement that underlines the highly competitive nature and significance of winning this award.

The Buddy Portable Mood & Table Lamp Collection is available directly at www.buddydesign.co and through retail partners Lumens and Uncommon Goods, with international shipping to Thailand and Canada.

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Further information about the Buddy Portable Mood & Table Lamp Collection can be found on the official ifdesign.com website under "Winners & iF Ranking".

Media Contact Chevy Chanpaiboonrat Founder, Buddy Design chevy@buddydesign.co www.buddydesign.co

About Buddy
Buddy Design is a New York City-based wellness lifestyle brand founded by AAPI solo female entrepreneur and industrial designer Chevy Chanpaiboonrat. Driven by a belief that good design has the power to improve our lives for the better, Buddy creates analog lighting objects that sit at the intersection of emotional design, color science, and everyday living. Buddy is available at buddydesign.co and through retail partners Lumens and Uncommon Goods, with international shipping to Thailand and Canada.

About the iF DESIGN AWARD
Since 1954, the iF DESIGN AWARD has been a globally recognized benchmark of design excellence. The iF Design brand is internationally established as a symbol of outstanding design achievement, with the iF DESIGN AWARD regarded as one of the most important design honors in the world. It honors design achievements in all disciplines: product, packaging, branding & communication, service design, architecture and interior architecture, user experience (UX), user interface (UI) and concepts. All award-winning entries are presented on ifdesign.com.