NYC wellness brand Buddy Design wins iF Design Award 2026 for analog mood lamps designed to restore emotional well-being and mindfulness, backed by science.
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, March 2, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — 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.
The Buddy Portable Mood & Table Lamp Collection impressed an international jury of 129 independent design experts through its fusion of anthropomorphic forms, color psychology, and the brand’s iconic tactile analog interface. 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, and 70% 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, making Buddy’s win a significant achievement that underlines the highly competitive nature and global significance of this honor.
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. Further information can be found on ifdesign.com under “Winners & iF Ranking.”
Media Contact Chevy Chanpaiboonrat Founder, Buddy Design chevy@buddydesign.co www.buddydesign.co
About Buddy Design
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.
Chevy Chanpaiboonrat
Buddy Design
+1 212-920-6169
Chevy@buddydesign.co
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
YouTube
TikTok
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
