51Âþ»­

Designer Luis Palacio remembers clearly when he had his Eureka moment. He was at a party, getting ready to DJ using his tablet computer, when he suddenly thought how good it would be to have three interlocked turntables that were effortlessly, elegantly designed.



Not only did he bring that vision to life, but his Z-Jay Folding DJ Tablet Concept has been named one of the best new design concepts on the planet at the prestigious Red Dot Product Design awards.

It was one of only 39 designs to be awarded this accolade from 4,680 entries from 61 countries around the world.

Luis, who completed a Master’s in Design Innovation (Product Design) from 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) now runs his own business, Luidpro, from 51Âþ»­’s Innovation Centre – its strapline is “designer by nature”. Luis works with people to develop their concepts through brilliant design.

He said: “I feel proud to have won this award and excited by the possibilities of developing this into a product.

“It was like a dream when I came up with the idea,” he explained. “I was trying to use my tablet and it was too small and uncomfortable. I suddenly thought that if there were three tablets how much easier to use it would be.

“As a DJ myself I know how good a folding turntable would work and how much better it would be. I knew as soon as I thought of it, how cool it would be to have something like that.”



The Z-Jay Folding DJ Tablet Concept is a music-mixing device, which combines all the DJ needs in three tablets - two decks and a mixer unit which are all in sync. DJs can upload music files directly into the device.

The Red Dot Awards’ Best of the Best is awarded for ground-breaking design and is the top prize in the Product Design category. As you would expect from such a prestigious contest, the judging is taken very seriously indeed.

Each entry was evaluated over two days by a distinguished panel of globally-renowned design experts. Only five per cent are awarded a Red Dot and 229 were given a merit. Just 39 were bestowed with the Best of the Best prize.

Incredibly the Z-Jay tablet was one of five of Luis’ funky, new designs to make the shortlist. He worked on the entries alongside his MA studies and, after he completed his Master’s, continued to  while running his design consultancy.

Luis said: “The possibilities with this device are plenty – the external decks can be connected and controlled by the tablet; each of the Z-JAY decks can be easily divided, allowing up to eight songs to be mixed at the same time; and the users can upload music files directly into the device.
 It is easy and intuitive to use – one simply has to touch the screen with their fingers.”

Luis took his mother to the prestigious Red Dot Awards in Singapore this summer. He said his parents had been a huge support to his career: “My family are directly responsible for my career.

"They supported me in study and in music and in design. That’s why I wanted to take my mother to the awards. She was so proud.”