Bettina Baacke
Cognito Design und Engineering GbR, Karlsruhe

Bettina Baacke has been running Cognito Design und Engineering GbR together with its founder Prof. Jürgen Goos since 2013. The firm’s main focus is on the interdisciplinary design of durable capital goods. Bettina Baacke started her professional life as a carpenter and assistant works manager. She studied industrial design at Pforzheim University of Applied Sciences, where she has been lecturing on CAD in the School of Design since 2011. “To my mind, good design is the result of achieving perfect harmony between technology, form and usability.”
www.cognito.de

 

Holm Gießler
Erco GmbH, Lüdenscheid  

Born in Dresden, Holm Gießler studied industrial design at the University of Duisburg-Essen, with a period abroad at the HDK (Academy of Design and Crafts) in Gothenburg, Sweden. After initially working as a freelancer for Scherf Design in Cologne, he went to work for Flöz Design in Essen in 2007. In 2013 he joined Erco in Lüdenscheid, where he is an in-house designer responsible for the development of new LED-based luminaire systems. “As digitalisation progresses, more and more electronic components are being built into products. It’s extremely important that their individual parts are returned to the material cycle in an energy-efficient way and without waste. Organic electronic components will play a key role in that.”
www.erco.com    

 

Photo: Andreas Körner
Tina Kammer
InteriorPark., Stuttgart

Tina Kammer is a qualified cabinetmaker and studied interior design in Mainz. Her first position was at London architectural practice Jestico + Whiles, after which she was responsible for the corporate architecture of firms like BMW, Mini and IBM. At Hugo Boss AG, she developed store concepts for the international market. Together with Andrea Herold, Tina Kammer founded InteriorPark. in Stuttgart in 2010. The online platform serves as a research and information source for select, sustainable design. The studio also provides consulting and planning services for interior concepts. “Design and sustainability are inextricably linked because it’s the design that determines the materials, manufacturing processes and therefore also the resources and energy that go into making the product. Consequently, design is the key to achieving a circular economy.”
www.interiorpark.com    

 

Reinhard Renner
Teams Design GmbH, Esslingen 

Reinhard Renner studied at Pforzheim University’s School of Design and graduated as an industrial designer. He joined Slany Design in Esslingen in 1978, was appointed managing partner in 1987 and went on to oversee both the formation of Teams Design and its international expansion. In 2019 he retired from his active role as managing partner but is still associated with the company as its main shareholder. Among other things, Reinhard Renner taught as an associate lecturer at TU Dresden (Dresden University of Technology). “For me, a design that doesn’t age even after many years, remains desirable and is developed with a responsible approach to materials and resources adds up to a product that is wonderfully sustainable.”
www.teamsdesign.com    

 

Meike Harde
Studio Meike Harde, Cologne  

After studying in Saarbrücken and a brief period with Benjamin Hubert in London, Cologne-based product designer Meike Harde founded her own studio in 2013. She received several newcomer awards early on in her freelance career and has taken part in numerous exhibitions. She has been placing her furniture and lighting designs with prestigious companies since approx. 2015. Until moving to Cologne in 2017, she was also an associate lecturer at Saarland University and HBKsaar (Saar Academy of Fine Arts and Design) in Saarbrücken. “In addition to a sustainable choice of materials and good workmanship, the form is also key to a product’s sustainability: the design has to remain attractive to the consumer for a long time.”
www.meikeharde.com   

 

Luciana Silvares
Mazda Motor Europe GmbH, Oberursel (Taunus) 

Luciana Silvares studied architecture and urban planning at Mackenzie University in São Paulo, earned a master’s degree in industrial design at Munich University of Applied Sciences and an MBA in general management from the University of Warwick in the UK. She has been working at Mazda Europe since 2000, initially as a senior designer in the colours and materials department. Since 2017, she has been responsible for brand style management and strategic development for products / merchandising. “Design is all about using limitations.”
www.mazda.de