Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality: limitless possibilities through exceptional design

Virtual reality (VR) offers unlimited ways of experiencing other worlds by giving access to places that one would never visit under conditions that would not normally exist. Be it a journey to cities of the past, the depths of a primeval forest or the everyday life of a normal family – virtual reality offers a view far beyond one’s own horizon without compromising on comfort or taking a risk. The more complex the virtual reality, the higher the level of design that is needed. In the Red Dot Award 2018, only works that satisfied at the highest level the demands of the complex VR world and demonstrated high performance in the field of design won a prize.

A journey through time with a change of perspective

Normally, people experience and discover a city by foot. “Ulm Stories” by the agency Demodern together with the Interactive Media Foundation offers the possibility of getting a bird’s eye view of the historic centre of the southern German city of Ulm. The virtual flight over the buildings from 1890 show the features of the city in their original beauty and down to the smallest detail. The effect is made even more realistic by natural light and shadow effects. 3D sound and a real wind complete the all-round experience of this Red Dot prize-winning work.

Discover banking as part of everyday life

Digitalisation does not stop at the gates of the banks. Deutsche Bank has come up with an idea to get closer to their customers. To this end, the insglück Gesellschaft für Markeninszenierung and clip up have developed a virtual reality experience for the campaign entitled “Neue Zeit braucht neues Banking” (new times need new banking) to allow users to discover the advantages of digital banking. With the help of VR glasses, they can enter the world of a fictitious family called Blum and see in an uncomplicated way how the digital offerings of the bank can be integrated into the daily life of the various family members. They are displayed on an information screen as one moves through the world of the family. This work, which gained a Red Dot, is rounded off by a binaural 360° sound system.

Immerse yourself in a primeval forest

The depths of the Amazon rainforest is somewhere that few people get to see. The virtual reality experience “Inside Tumucumaque” demonstrates how fascinating the spectacular flora and fauna are and the worth of protecting them. It offers the possibility of experiencing the wildlife sanctuary through the eyes of five different animals. You can swim in rivers like crocodiles, battle through the undergrowth like a spider or discover the forest from the sky with the eyes of a bird; thus creating a closeness and empathy to the creatures of the rainforest. This work inspired the jury members to award the Interactive Media Foundation and Artificial Rome a Red Dot.

Award ceremony

Virtual reality will be increasingly important in our everyday life in the future. The outstanding ideas of the award-winning designers, agencies and companies prove this. Whether in the field of virtual reality or in one of the other categories or industries of the Red Dot Award: Brands & Communication Design – on 1 November, the 2019 winners will be officially announced and honoured during the award ceremony. It is the moment when designers, agencies, brands and companies receive their coveted trophies and directly afterwards can celebrate their success into the wee small hours at the Designers’ Night.

More on the award ceremony