We’ve got a new Success Story for you in October: Phoenix Design and Hansgrohe, who have been an extremely successful team for many years now. The exhibition that accompanies our renowned design award Focus Open 2020 and the Mia Seeger Prize 2020 has been open to the public since 10 October. You’ll find all the important information and dates below. Plus, planning is underway for our Entdeckt! exhibition series. We invite you to meet some successful design talents from Baden-Württemberg – today we’re presenting a company by the name of Vanory.
Our Fit for Market format is starting up again – and providing important tips on design protection. And of course we’ve rounded up some more great book tips for you from our Design Library.

Enjoy the read!
The Design Center team
 

Hansgrohe and Phoenix Design show how it’s done: long partnerships between companies and designers are models for success. Provided you follow certain basic rules, that is. In our new Success Stories interview, Andreas Diefenbach (Phoenix Design) and Jan Heisterhagen (Hansgrohe) explain what they are.

Read more here.
 

Focus Open rewards forward-looking design!
Design adds value and gives companies a competitive edge. Never before has professional design been so important and so much a matter of course as it is today. Focus Open, the Baden-Württemberg state award for design, provides an annual and transparent roundup of what’s state of the art when it comes to design, innovation and sustainability. And in 2020, Focus Open is once again rewarding new products, services and concepts for their innovativeness and design quality.

Award ceremony
Despite corona, we were able to hold the award ceremony after all! Unfortunately, however, the current situation meant that we could only invite a greatly reduced number of guests. But so that nobody would feel left out, we decided to live-stream the Focus Open 2020 event so that everybody could enjoy the exciting evening.

This year too, the prize-winning entries can be admired in our exhibition at the MIK [Museum, Information, Art] in Ludwigsburg, where the products will be on show until 22 November.
What could be more inspiring than a showcase that presents outstanding design in such a special atmosphere!

This year too, a comprehensive exhibition catalogue will present all the award-winning products in both German and English. The top-quality images and detailed product descriptions are supplemented by vivid commentary from the jury.


Published by Design Center Baden-Württemberg
av edition
ISBN 978-3-89986-335-2.

EXHIBITION
10 October to 22 November 2020
Tuesday to Sunday, 10.00-18.00
Closed on 1 November

MIK Museum - Information - Kunst
Eberhardstraße 1
71634 Ludwigsburg

Click here to see how the jury went about its work and detailed information about our jurors.
 

The intention: to track down design talents from Baden-Württemberg and give them the opportunity to present themselves to a broad public at the Haus der Wirtschaft, right in the heart of Stuttgart.

There are various ways of doing that: an exhibition together with other newly discovered designers, a small solo exhibition, a presentation in our library or a detailed portrait on our website and in our newsletter. These many and varied platforms are also promoted in other components of our public relations activities.

The prerequisite: the participating designers have their studio in Baden-Württemberg and can present a compelling portfolio and exceptional projects!

Originally planned for May 2020, the exhibition has had to be rescheduled because of corona and is now due to take place at the Haus der Wirtschaft from 10 December 2020 to 25 January 2021.

So that you can find out more about the featured designers in the meantime, we’ll be conducting interviews with the protagonists and presenting them to you in our regular news bulletins between now and December.

This month we interviewed the Vanory company. You’ll find links to all the talented designers featured in ENTDECKT! 2020 here.
 

In collaboration with the Patent and Trademark Center, we’re continuing our Fit for Market series and recently held another presentation on topical issues concerning design protection.

How can I protect my design? What do I need to pay attention to when I register it? What’s the right time to register a design? What costs can I expect? Questions such as these come up in relation to any creative work and design output. In addition to an innovative idea, good research and the right protection are vital for success. Failing to protect innovations appropriately at the right time can result in immense financial detriment and the loss of the hoped-for competitive advantage.

Find out how to protect the design of your products, what you need to watch out for when registering a design and what costs are involved from our presentation on design protection!

Due to the continuing corona situation, the event was live-streamed on 20 October and can be viewed on the YouTube-Channel of the Patent and Trade Mark Center Baden-Württemberg:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Zk2Fq9xobzI2hAeHk3eaQ
 

DESIGNING LIGHTNESS
Fashion Futurist
Authors: Ed van Hinte, Adriaan Beukers
Publisher: nai010 publishers

This book is an appeal to start designing minimum weight applications to seriously save energy. It also offers practical advice for doing so. Designing Lightness entertains the reader with its free associations, creating unexpected crosslinks between the world of composite materials and structural solutions. (...) (nai010 publishers)



The Materials Book
Eds.: Ilka and Andreas Ruby
Publisher: Ruby Press

With the world’s population growing by 2.6 people per second, by 2050 we will need twice as many homes, highways, streets, and schools – all kinds of built infrastructure – if we are to maintain our standard of living. That will require vast quantities of construction materials and untold emissions of carbon dioxide, both for building new structures and heating, cooling, and maintaining them over the decades. While people in construction have a growing sense of the environmental toll of their business, the shift toward more sustainable standards can seem frustratingly slow. Yet the good news is that the scale of the industry means construction can be both a problem and a solution, as even small changes in the way we build can have an outsize impact on global carbon output. (...) (Ruby Press)



Der Kosmos des Entwerfens 
Author: Simon Kretz
Publisher: Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König

Entitled “The Cosmos of Design”, this book is a journey through the invisible thought and cognitive processes of the designer’s mind. Step by step, designing is explored on the basis of simple examples. The book shines a light on both creative experimentation and speculative thinking, as well as cognition-oriented tests, iterative development, abductive reasoning and associative organisation. The result is a coherent figure of thought, an enlightening philosophy of design. “The Cosmos of Design” is intended as a resource for students and practitioners; it aims to broaden their understanding of design, provide a theoretical foundation and practical inspiration.(...)(Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König)

The Cosmos of Design
Author: Simon Kretz
Publisher: Koenig Books

“The Cosmos of Design” is a journey through the characteristic features of design thought processes that usually occur unconsciously.
With the help of simple examples, designing is explored step by step: Creative experimentation and speculative thinking are highlighted in addition to cognition-oriented tests, iterative loops and abductive conclusions.
The result of this study is a coherent pattern of thought, an enlightening philosophy of design.
As a resource for students and practitioners, “The Cosmos of Design” is intended to improve the understanding of design, to provide theoretical foundation and practical inspiration.



Retail Personality
authentic and successful
Authors: Marc Heikaus, Stephan Demmrich, Jons Messedat
Publisher: av edition

What do the Parisian chocolatier and sculptor Patrick Roger, the makers of the trendy Oslo fashion label Norwegian Rain, T-Michael and Alexander Helle have in common with the Stuttgart optician Andreas Kraft? They all believe in the magic and allure of well-designed shops. And that is not all – as entrepreneurs, they must make their shops the ambassadors of their brand, philosophy and products.
The book is an exploratory tour of offbeat retail hotspots worldwide. The focus is on interesting personalities who make a relevant contribution to the topic of shop design and product presentation.
Marc Heikaus is the owner of Heikaus Group, a Swabian family enterprise with around 50 employees that is active throughout Europe as a general contractor and supplier for turnkey shop design, combining design and innovation of the highest quality. (Marc Heitkaus)

Would you like to visit us at the Design Center Baden-Württemberg? We’d love to see you! Click here for information on our library opening times and corona guidelines. [