As if you needed another reason to visit Parsons The New School for Design's life-affirming Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, tonight the new Lyn Rice Architects-designed building is the backdrop for a fizzy opening reception for the I.D. 2008 Annual Design Review, an exhibition of approximately 130 examples of outstanding design in eight categories—consumer products, graphics, packaging, environments, furniture, equipment, concepts, and interactive—selected by I.D.-appointed expert jurors in each field. (And yes, we realize that we said "design" five times in that last sentence.)

Among the honorees on display is the serene Mute Chair (pictured above) designed by Maaike Evers and Mike Simonian, better known as Mike and Maaike, whose design for Council earned a honorable mention in the furniture category. And don't miss our old friend the NYC Condom Dispenser (above, at far right), one of several Fuseprojects to earn an honorable mention in the equipment category. Also honorable in that category was Springtime's Bikedispenser (pictured after the jump), an automated bicycle rental station that has been called "like PEZ but good for you," by which we hope they're not implying that PEZ are somehow nutritionally lacking. The exhibition is on view at Parsons starting tomorrow and through September 28, but if you can't make it, check out the July/August issue of I.D. for the full scoop. Click "continued" for a list of the eight best-in-category winners and a few more photos.

I.D. 2008 Annual Design Review Best of Category Winners