The design scene celebrates its successes: the Red Dot Gala 2018 in review
On 9 July 2018, big brands, popular designers and excellent young talents convened in Essen to celebrate the winners of the Red Dot Award: Product Design within the framework of the Red Dot Gala. The roughly 1,200 guests were led through the evening by Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award. Phoenix Design enjoyed a very special moment. The international design studio was honoured with the title “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2018”. The evening culminated in the spectacular aftershow-party in the Red Dot Design Museum where the so-called “Designers’ Night” took place and two winners exhibitions were launched.
Recognition of the year’s best designers and manufacturers in Essen’s Aalto-Theater
This year, designers and manufacturers from 59 countries entered more than 6,300 products in the competition. Only 1.1% of them received the highest distinction, the Red Dot: Best of the Best. During the award ceremony, the 69 laureates received their well-deserved trophies on stage of Essen’s Aalto-Theater.
Next to the winners, host and presenter Professor Dr. Peter Zec welcomed three of the 39 jury members on stage: Wolfgang K. Meyer-Hayoz, Steve Leung and Adriana Monk, all of whom founded their own design studio, congratulated the proud Red Dot: Best of the Best laureates. The guests included the well-known designers Stefan Diez, Rob Melville, Stefan Niehaus, Robert Sachon, Peter Schreyer and Hadi Teherani.
The honouring of Phoenix Design as Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2018 was a particularly heart-warming moment at the award ceremony and the highlight at the end of the Red Dot Gala. The designers Peter Kettenring and Lars Wagner from Canyon Bicycles, title holder in 2017, handed over the “Radius” challenge cup to their successors. With a personal word, the unconventional furniture designer Nils Holger Moormann introduced the the design team. Afterwards, an impressive film demonstrated that the studio is a ground-breaker in German design history and around 70 employees rushed on stage to enthusiastic applause – a wonderful gesture that shows that the success is attributable to the entire team.
Partying in the midst of award-winning products: the Designers’ Night
The subsequent after-show party “Designers’ Night” took place in the Red Dot Design Museum and invited to network, celebrate and dance. This is where the Red Dot and Honourable Mention winners received their certificates. Besides the cheerful celebration, all of the awarded designs could be discovered as the Designers’ Night was also the launch of the special exhibition “Design on Stage”. Equally, the presentation “PHOENIX – First. Now. Next.” celebrated its debut. The product show displays the excellent achievements of Phoenix Design.
Further information at www.red-dot.org/pd.
