LG Display and the British design magazine Dezeen have announced the winners of the second edition of the OLED Go! design competition. In first place was the “Caelum” Desk (pictured), created by the Turkish designer Cagatay Afsar. 

The competition challenges designers to come up with new furnishing concepts that incorporate LG’s OLED displays and target interesting new use cases. Entrants to the competition are free to build something for any kind of user or demographic, though LG Display and Dezeen request that whatever designs they come up with can cater to, or enhance, people’s changing lifestyles. 

Afsar’s Caelum is a desk that integrates a 27-inch transparent OLED display within its partition, thereby eliminating the need for a separate monitor that takes up valuable real estate on the desk. When it’s not being used, the OLED display can switch to transparent mode and blend seamlessly into the room.

"I wanted to design a product that had a unique spin on the desk," Afsar said. "We're spending increasing amounts of time at our desks since working from home has become so commonplace. As our desks are so important now, I wanted to integrate technology into them in a more stylish way."

It’s the latest innovative use of transparent OLED, which has been popping up in a number of real-life products and concepts already, such as subway windows and sliding doors. LG recently showcased its own latest creations at its Open Innovation Forum, including a new E-Crystal Transparent OLED display for conference rooms.

The transparent OLED concepts are always fun to see, and for LG Display they serve as a fantastic marketing opportunity that highlights the unique versatility of its technology. 

Afsar, who landed a prize of €35,000, won ahead of more than 300 entrants from 50 countries who submitted designs for the OLED Go! competition. LG Display and Deezen whittled down those submissions to a shortlist of 20 concepts, from which its jury chose the eventual winners. Each design was assessed based on its creativity, aesthetics, functionality and feasibility, Deezen explained. 

It was another Turkish designer who came in second place. Damla Aras’s “Tiny” (above) is a compact desk with a 32-inch rollable OLED screen that rolls up when not in use. Third place went to “Vivid” (below), the creation of Milan-based Studio WA+CH, for its movable OLED screen that can be used as a whiteboard, room divider or video conferencing device.

Fourth place went to “Totem”, a freestanding soundbar that incorporates a rollable OLED display, the creation of Japanese design firm Studio BooBoon, which won last year’s inaugural OLED Go! competition. Finally, the top five was rounded out by “Easel” (below), a versatile OLED display created by South Korean designers Hyeona Kim and WooSeok Lee that can be moved around a home easily and folded away when not in use. 

Whether or not any of these concepts will ever become actual products remains to be seen. Most likely they will remain on the drawing board as mere concepts, unless the likes of LG Electronics, Samsung, IKEA or someone else decides they can become a consumer hit.