by Jasmin Jouhar, 10.03.2009
No, we are not going to start this text with the K-word. Although it hovered over the presentation of the "iF Product Design Award 2009" awards last week in Hanover like a dark storm cloud on the horizon. We join moderator and "International Forum" managing director Ralf Wiegmann, who pushed the looming cloud aside for the duration of the ceremony. Because firstly, there is no need to worry, and secondly, the 50 winners of the iF Gold Award proved that thoughtful and original design is always in demand.
For the jury chaired by designer Fritz Frenkler, however, "well thought-out" clearly took precedence over originality when selecting the winners: The award-winning designs are characterized throughout by their functional, not to say sober, design. There were no formal extravagances to be discovered; loud, even blatant objects found no favor in the eyes of the 28 jurors. This continues a trend that was already evident at the 2008 Product Design Awards ceremony.
As in the previous year, the Californian computer company Apple came out on top: As many as four of the 50 golden prizes went to Cupertino. Fritz Frenkler called on designers and manufacturers to take an example from the reliability, seriousness and seriousness of design from Apple. Only with high standards for their own products do they have a future.
50 out of 2808 products
The 50 products awarded gold clearly stand out from the total of 802 award-winning products thanks to the successful combination of formal quality, innovation and function: That is how many the jury of the International Forum found worthy this year of being able to adorn themselves with the red and white "iF" seal in the future. The jury's selection is understandable on a tour of the exhibition at the fairgrounds, as there are sometimes considerable differences in quality between the gold winners and the other 752 award winners. The question therefore arises whether the International Forum should not be a little more selective in awarding its seal. Manufacturers and designers submitted a total of 2808 products from 39 countries to the iF. Prizes were awarded in sixteen different categories such as "Telecommunications", "Lighting", "Furniture" and "Industry".
In the lighting category, products with LED technology were obviously the winners. More and more applications are being found for the economical and bright diodes, as evidenced by the "LET" family of luminaires from Baltensweiler in Switzerland, which won gold. Its clear and restrained design already impressed the jury of the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany. A flashlight with LED, but without the usual technoid look, was also among the award winners. The Japanese designers have found a very simple form that allows the flashlight to be used as a small but atmospheric table lamp.
Holz gewinnt
In the furniture sector, wood continues to prove a guarantor of success: Stefan Diez swooped home a gold award with his "404" chair for Thonet, while his Munich colleague and former employer Konstantin Grcic had to settle for a "normal" award for his "Myto" chair for Plank. Gold was also awarded to the small wooden piece of furniture "Pivot" by Dutch manufacturer Arco. The original combination of chest of drawers, table and shelf was created by designer Shay Alkalay. Also made entirely of wood is the bed "Darling" by the Swiss company Röthlisberger, whose width can be varied as needed. The Ilio company from Turkey was also among the gold winners with "Twig", a cross between a wooden chair and a stool.
Good ideas score points
The fact that in the electronics and communications sector it is not only Apple that makes demands on design is proven by the UMTS box "Form-Line" from the Chinese manufacturer Huawei: The device with the original suspension was worth gold to the jury. The designers from Formidable Design took the risk of changing an anonymous and omnipresent design such as the color pen. The result was "Colorstripe" for Lyra - the jury and the audience at the awards ceremony were equally enthusiastic. Of course, we don't yet know how many good ideas will be born in the future using the "Paperstorm" brainstorming table. Only this much is clear: The idea of the design office Elastique. We Design from Cologne for the secondary use of a stack of paper was found to be good and worthy of an award by the iF jury.
Thoughts are free
Thanks to the convincing products, the exuberant joy of many winners and the eloquent moderation of Ralf Wiegmann, the audience could actually forget the K-word for two hours and enjoy the sunny mood of the award ceremony. Whether the bad word managed to creep back into the conversations and darken the mood at the subsequent reception for the award winners shall remain a secret.
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