The International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year Award (IYDEY) is a rare chance for talented young entrepreneurs to spend time in the UK speaking to the best designers and creative professionals in the world and attending the shows that most creatives only dream of being able to.

Y. Tsai, or just Tsai as prefers to be known, is one South African whose mettle and creativity has earned him all these opportunities and a few accolades along the way.

Tsai was named South Africa’s 2008 International Young Design Entrepreneur of the Year Award (IYDEY) finalist. He is heavily influenced by eastern principles and is inspired by South Africa’s diverse culture. He is a University of Cape Town graduate. Tsai has won the prestigious International Red Dot Award 2007 and the local Topbilling Momentum Lifestyle Award 2007.

Tsai and the 10 other finalists will jet off in September for a twelve day UK tour of the national design industry, which will culminate in them attending 100% Design and London Design Festival.

The overall winner will be chosen and will receive a financial prize and their own stand at 100% Design 2008.

‘South Africa has a lot of need for design orientated solutions in the low cost housing area for example, and designers like myself need to constantly come up with design solutions on a mass scale,’ says Tsai, ‘but there are a lot of entrepreneurial elements that need to go into it.’

Tsai is currently running a multi-disciplinary practice - Tsai Design Studio - that focuses on the fields of product design, furniture, interior design and architecture.

His latest award ‘The Most Beautiful Object in South Africa’ was in February 2008 at the Cape Town Design Indaba, for the ‘Nested Bunk Beds.’ Tsai’s space saving bed system was introduced into an Aids Orphanage near Cape Town, which received wide public attention, including several television airtimes.

Read more about the IYDEY award and Tsai here