Red Dot Award 2015: looking back on the design highlights of the anniversary year
60 years award-winning design – this was the motto for the Red Dot year 2015. Founded in 1954 as organisation “Industrieform”, today’s Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen organized a competition for product design in 1955 for the first time. By now it is internationally renowned and accepted as Red Dot Award: Product Design. As it is still customary today, the products, which were awarded by an independent expert jury, were presented in a “Permanent Show of Elegant Industrial Products”. What began 60 years ago has developed to be the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary design. Around 2,000 international design objects are currently on show in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen, located in the former boiler house of the Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site.
On the occasion of this anniversary, the Ruhr Museum and the Red Dot Design Museum presented their first joint exhibition “’Enduring, not ultimate form’: 60 years of design history in Essen - from ‘Industrieform’ to Red Dot”. Moreover, they were pleased about a prominent supporter: The President of the German Bundestag, Prof Dr Norbert Lammert, assumed the patronage of the exhibition. The exhibition presented current and historical exhibits, reconstructd the first product exhibition of 1955 and documented posters and photographs from 60 years of design history alongside eyewitness accounts.
In its anniversary year, Red Dot can look back on numerous moments full of emotions, events and successes. For the first time more than 17,000 products, projects and works from more than 70 nationes were entered into the three competitions Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Communication Design and Red Dot Award: Design Concept – a new record. This expresses the huge importance that more and more companies and designers attach to excellent design. At the same time, it symbolises the international acceptance and rating of the competition and the Red Dot quality seal which is one of the strongest symbols for high-class design.
Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015
This year’s Red Dot jury entered with about 40 design professionals from 25 nations the judging of 4,928 entries from 56 countries. The team of experts awarded the sought-after seal of quality for good design, the “Red Dot”, to 1,240 products. Only 81 entries were bestowed the honour of the top award, the “Red Dot: Best of the Best”, while 122 won an Honourable Mention for a particularly well-executed aspect of design work.
All laureates were duly celebrated on 29 July at the Red Dot Gala in the Aalto-Theater in Essen, Germany, and at the Designers’ Night in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen. In keeping with tradition, Professor Dr. Peter Zec hosted the impressive gala. The founder and CEO of Red Dot welcomed respected guests onto the stage. 1,200 audience members travelling from roughly 40 countries saw how the laureates of the top individual award, the “Red Dot: Best of the Best”, received their trophies on stage.
The highlight of the award ceremony was the honouring of the Red Dot: Design Team of the Year. Robert Sachon & Bosch Home Appliances Design Team received the title of honour and surprised the audience with a stage show of their own. Subsequently, Oskar Juhlin from the previous winners Veryday, handed over the “Radius” challenge cup to Robert Sachon and his team, thus officially crowning them “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2015” together with Prof. Dr. Peter Zec.
During the Designers’ Night, the special exhibitions “Design on Stage” and “Icons of everyday life – Bosch Home Appliances throughout the ages” were opened. While the first showed the competition’s award-winning products, the Red Dot: Design Team of the Year traditionally presented itself with a self-designed and implemented presentation in the Red Dot Design Museum Essen.
Red Dot Award: Communication Design 2015
Also this year, the Red Dot Award: Communication Design was in search for the best communication solutions and advertising campaigns. With success: In 2015, the competition recorded 569 “Red Dot” awards, 74 Red Dot: Best of the Best, seven Red Dot: Grand Prix and one Red Dot: Junior Prize. For three days, the 27-headed Red Dot jury had selected the best creative projects out of 7,451 entries. From Corporate Design to Advertising and Social Responsibility – participants from all over the world were invited to demonstrate their talent in a total of 17 categories.
But only the best managed to convince the expert panel. Among them is the German agency group Leo Burnett, who ensured themselves the honorary title Red Dot: Agency of the Year. As well as the South Korean product manufacturer LG who was honoured as Red Dot: Brand of the Year, the strongest brand in the competition with their campaigns, packagings and a total of 13 “Red Dot” awards. The up-and-coming designers set new standards this year, too: The students Hsuan-Eng Chen and Chien-Hsing Chen from the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology were awarded with the Red Dot: Junior Prize for their project “Blind Navi”. The app innovation works by imitating how blind people recognise streets, combining multi-sensory messages with known reference points. This year, the award for the best work designed by a student or young designer, which is endowed with 10,000 Euro, was sponsored by the software company Adobe.
On 6 November 2015, the proud winners were honoured at the Red Dot Gala in the Konzerthaus Berlin. In attendance of 1,400 international guests the best of the best received their trophies on stage. Afterwards, the who is who of the creative industry celebrated together at the Designers’ Night in the E-Werk in Berlin until the wee hours. In the legendary night club, the winners’ exhibition “Design on Stage” was shown.
One day later, on 8 November, the exclusive special exhibition “Best Communication Design – Red Dot Winners Selection 2015” was opened in the Museum for Communication Berlin. There, all 82 works that were awarded with the Red Dot: Best of the Best and the Red Dot: Grand Prix, will be presented until 10 January 2016. Furthermore, all works from Leo Burnett, Red Dot: Agency of the Year 2015, are on show. On 8 December, Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of Red Dot, granted personal insights into the exclusive studio exhibition under the motto “Icons of Brand Design”. In the presence of 50 guests, the design expert presented the latest approaches and trends from the fields of advertising and marketing.
Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2015
In the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2015, a total of 344 winning concepts emerged from 31 categories with 4,680 entries from 61 countries. 228 concepts were distinguished by the international expert jury with the sought-after seal of quality, “Red Dot”. 40 concepts were honoured with the top prize in the competition for ground-breaking design, the Red Dot: Best of the Best. 69 concepts were credited with an Honourable Mention for their excellent detail solutions.
This year’s Red Dot: Luminary, the highest distinction of the competition, was awarded to a concept which adapts to the effects of global warming: desertification. “Boostrac”, a tire which provides optimal dry performance in general and desert driving conditions, emerged as the top design of the year. All awardees were honoured at the Red Dot Gala in the Red Dot Design Museum Singapore on 25 September 2015.
China Good Design 2015
In 2015, the first independent design competition for the People’s Republic of China based on the strict statutes of Red Dot was conducted with “China Good Design”. Its goal is to discover good designs in China from an international perspective, aiming to improve the future design atmosphere in China and expressing Chinese design culture as well as promoting Chinese design and culture worldwide.
In 2015, the highest single distinction “China Good Design Gold” was awarded 16 times, 75 products were bestowed with the quality seal “China Good Design” and 15 products were awarded with an honourable mention. The electronic manufacturer Lexon received the most awards.
Red Dot exhibitions 2015
In its anniversary year, Red Dot also presented the Red Dot award-winning products, communication works and design concepts „on tour“:
Light & Shape: Best of Belgian Design
28 October 2014 – 25 January 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Taiwanese Design Faces
13 November 2014 – 29 March 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Taipei
28 November 2014 – 31 May 2015
HKDI Gallery, Hongkong
Design on Stage – Winners Red Dot Award: Communication Design 2014
6 February 2015 – 3 May 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Formosa Forms – Design trends in technology and lifestyle from Taiwan
24 February – 1 March 2015
Vernissage: 24 February 2015
Alte Kongresshalle München, MCBW FORUM, Munich Creative Business Week, Munich, Germany
Design auf dem Podest
7 – 28 March2015
Vernissage: 6 March 2015
Schule für Gestaltung and Galerie Graf & Schelble, Basel, Switzerland
Exhibition in the course of REDI
10 March 2015
Represention of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brussels, Belgium
World’s Best Communication Design
24 April - 10 October 2015
Vernissage: 23 April 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Taipei
Formosa Forms – Design trends in technology and lifestyle from Taiwan
29 April – 24 May 2015
designforum Wien, Vienna, Austria
Design for Speed: Red Dot-awarded Mobility
21 May 2015 – 20 August 2015
An exhibition in cooperation with Sparkasse Essen
Sparkasse Essen, Essen, Germany
“Enduring, not ultimate form”: 60 years of design history in Essen - from “Industrieform” to Red Dot
29 June 2015 – 23 August 2015
Vernissage: 28 June 2015
A joint exhibition by Ruhr Museum and Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Hall 5, World Heritage Site Zollverein, Essen, Germany
Design on Stage – Winners Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015
30 June 2015 – 26 July 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Icons of everyday life - Bosch Home Appliances throughout the ages
30 June 2015 – 26 July 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Formosa Forms – Contemporary Tradition in Taiwanese Design
4 – 8 September 2015
MAISON&OBJET, Paris, France
24 September 2015 – Summer 2017
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Design Identities: Award-winning products from the Netherlands and Germany selected by Red Dot
24 October 2015 – 4 September 2016
Vernissage: 23 October 2015
Cube Design Museum, Kerkrade, Netherlands
¡Viva el Diseño! Red Dot winners from Spain
25 October 2015 – 28 February 2016:
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Best Communication Design – Red Dot Winners Selection 2015
8 November 2015 – 10 January 2016
Vernissage: 7 November 2015
Museum for Communication, Berlin, Germany
Smart Materials and Solutions for better Product Design
19 November 2015 – 10 January 2016
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Moving innovations: Red Dot-awarded products in motion
11 – 13 November 2015
Kintex Exhibition Center, Seoul, South Korea
World’s Best Product Design 2015/2016 - Taiwanese and international winners of the Red Dot Award
3 December 2015 – 13 March 2016
Red Dot Design Museum Taipei
Events and seminars 2015
“Design-Driven Innovation Support”: REDI final conference
10 March 2015
Represention of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Brussels, Belgium
Red Dot Best Practice Seminar
23 April 2015
Creativity Center, Taiwan Design Center, Taipei, Taiwan
Awards ceremony interzum award: intelligent material & design 2015
4 May2015
Theater am Tanzbrunnen, Cologne, Germany
Press conference: anniversary exhibition “Enduring, not ultimate form”
26 June 2015
Hall 5, World Heritage Site Zollverein, Essen, Germany
Red Dot Gala, Designers‘ Night and vernissage “Design on Stage” (Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015)
29 June 2015
Aalto-Theater and Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Red Dot Gala (Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2015)
25 September 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Singapore
Ceremonial act on the occasion of 60 years Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen
5 October 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
Xiamen International Design Business Week – Red Dot in China 2015
30 October – 2 November 2015
International Conference and Exhibition Center, Xiamen, China
Awards ceremony China Good Design 2015
2 November 2015
International Conference and Exhibition Center, Xiamen, China
Red Dot Gala, Designers‘ Night and vernissage “Design on Stage” (Red Dot Award: Communication Design 2015)
6 November 2015
Konzerthaus Berlin and E-Werk Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Conferenz “Smart Materials for future Design“
18 November 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
6 December 2015
Red Dot Design Museum Essen
