[Interview] When a Washer Becomes Furniture: Meet the Designers Behind the Red Dot Design Award 2026

Embodying its human-centered design approach, “Expressive Design”, Samsung Electronics achieved a remarkable milestone at the globally renowned Red Dot Design Award 2026, with all 16 of its submitted entries¹ recognized.

The Bespoke AI Laundry appliances — honored with the Best of the Best award — highlighted how home appliances can evolve into design objects that elevate the overall aesthetics of a space.

Samsung Newsroom spoke with designers from the Digital Appliances (DA) Business to discuss the evolution of home appliance design and its significance.

Uni-Body Aesthetics for Everyday Living

The Bespoke AI Laundry appliances — demonstrates how home appliances can harmonize within users’ living spaces. By applying the uni-body design across its lineup — including separate washer and dryer units, vertically integrated one-body models and all-in-one combo appliances — it creates a unified design language.

Q. What led to the adoption of a uni-body design across this year’s Bespoke AI washer lineup?

Jinsun Park: Samsung’s uni-body design concept serves as a key strategy for establishing a consistent brand identity across appliances. Regardless of the form factor, users can experience a consistent aesthetic, with the appliances adding to the overall atmosphere as furniture. By removing unnecessary elements, this approach also aligns with Samsung’s ESG vision, improving repairability and extending the product lifespan.

Q. The Bespoke AI Combo features key structural changes. How did you collaborate with the R&D team to incorporate these?

Jinsun Park: The Bespoke AI Combo was designed for users with limited space who cannot accommodate a separate dryer, so we needed to deliver the full performance of a standalone dryer within a compact washer-sized form factor, which made the design very challenging.

When designing the auto dispenser, we worked closely with the R&D team to carefully refine pump placement and assembly structures, securing an additional milliliter of capacity within the densely packed layout.

For the lint filter, we focused on easy front access — even when built into cabinetry — while maintaining Bespoke’s seamless aesthetic by minimizing visible gaps and joints.

After refining the hardware and creating a seamless exterior, the designers shifted their focus to the interface. As appliances become more intelligent and laundry functions more diverse, they aimed to make the user experience simpler and more intuitive.

Q. What was the key consideration when designing the UX for the 7-inch full-touch display?

Yunkyung Kang: The key was to find the right balance between providing more information and maintaining simplicity, as adding more features can make the product harder to use.

To address this, we used 2D and 3D visual elements — including images and animations — so users can intuitively understand the product’s status without prior learning.

Beyond its refined exterior and intuitive usability, the Bespoke AI Laundry appliances extends its innovation to a sustainable production process.

Q. How did applying technologies such as No Spray make a difference in achieving sustainable design?

Sungjun Kim: Adding color to products previously required multiple processes — including spraying, painting and deposition — leading to significant waste and high energy consumption. In response, we adopted film-laminated metal and coil-coated (pre-painted) metal methods, which involve directly printing on steel sheets and applying films. By producing multiple components from a single pre-colored sheet, we significantly streamlined the process and reduced waste.

This approach also delivers more realistic premium metal textures while establishing a sustainable production system that takes both the working environment and safety into account.

Designed To Care for Your Everyday Life

With this Best of the Best recognition, Samsung demonstrated how home appliances can evolve into partners in everyday living — thoughtfully considering users’ daily lives, spaces and the environment.

Going forward, Samsung will continue to advance design innovation with AI to reduce the burden of household chores, while shaping the future of everyday living by bringing together functionality, aesthetics and environmental responsibility.

* Some images are for illustrative purposes only and were provided by Samsung Electronics Design Center.

1. The two products honored with the Best of the Best distinction were the OLED TV S95H and the Bespoke AI Laundry series. Fourteen additional products were named winners: Music Studio 5, The Movingstyle, Bespoke AI Refrigerator Family Hub, Bespoke AI Jet Bot, Bespoke AirDresser, Bespoke AI Ice Water Purifier, Bespoke AI WindFree Pro Air Conditioner, Jet Fit, Bespoke AI WindFree Combo Gallery Pro Air Conditioner, Galaxy Z Fold7, Galaxy XR, 5G Street Radio Solution, Spatial Signage and Portable SSD T7 Resurrected. ↩︎