Fast Company recognizes Crown for “Proving Forklifts can be as Well Designed as iPods”

“Sleek. Ergonomic. Innovative. User friendly.” These are the words Fast Company magazine uses in a recent issue to describe products such as the Apple iPod, a Whirlpool washer, a Black and Decker drill and a Crown Equipment forklift. As part of a cover feature called, “The United States of Design: 30 Companies That Get It,” Fast Company recognized Crown by stating that the company is “proving forklifts can be as well designed as iPods.”

“When most people think of excellent product design, they typically think of consumer products,” said Mike Gallagher, vice president of design, Crown Equipment. “Crown Equipment is honored and excited to show everyone that design excellence can also be found in commercial and industrial equipment. Our multi-disciplined design team incorporates innovation-focused practices and creative design competencies into our forklifts and technology to ensure the outcome is as compelling as possible. We really strive to please all our customers and it’s nice to see this recognition from Fast Company.”

Crown has been recognized for its design since the 1960s and has earned more than 50 design awards. For example, Crown is a frequent winner in the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) annual International Design Excellence Award (IDEA) that recognizes companies for design excellence. Crown has received six consecutive and nineteen overall IDEA awards. No other company has won more IDEAs in the Commercial and Industrial Equipment category in the last 11 years than Crown Equipment. Most recently, Crown was honored with a 2011 Gold IDEA award for the Crown WT 3000 Series of pallet trucks.

The IDSA IDEA program receives thousands of product submissions from countries as far-reaching as Japan, Croatia, Brazil and New Zealand. With a continuing upward trend in international participation, the IDEA program highlights the best in design from around the world.

According to its website, Fast Company is the world’s leading progressive business media brand, with a unique editorial focus on innovation in technology, ethonomics (ethical economics), leadership, and design. It is written for, by, and about the most progressive business leaders. The magazine reports a verified circulation of more than 700,000.