Award ceremony of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept on 25 September in Singapore
Which design concepts are the best of the year? The answer to that question will be revealed at the award ceremony for the Red Dot Award: Design Concept on 25 September in Singapore. In 2019, 4,218 design concepts, design research projects and prototypes were entered for the competition by companies, design agencies, research institutes and designers from 48 countries. The international design experts of the Red Dot jury selected 265 design concepts that will be honoured at the award ceremony on 25 September in Singapore.
One of the nominees in the “Mobility” category is the Lilium Jet aircraft, manufactured by Lilium GmbH from Germany. The all-electric, five-seater Lilium Jet can cover 300 km in an hour on a single battery charge. Its 36 tilting jet engines, mounted on the two wing flaps, enable it to take off and land vertically.
“The energy consumption of this project offers one of the best solutions of all time. It combines the user friendliness of a helicopter with the flight characteristics of a plane. Thanks to this concept, an aircraft can achieve a far greater range with less electrical power than is the case for many other projects, which are still at the development stage or are only just coming onto the market,” Red Dot jury member Professor Lutz Fügener explains. “As a concept and product of the future, the Lilium Jet creates trust in a new form of transport design.”
RÉSEAU, a concept by the University of Montreal, GRAD Research Lab – School of Design in Canada was submitted in the “Public Spaces” category and was also nominated for the highest distinction the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2019 has to bestow. RÉSEAU is a system of ready-made concrete elements that are used to channel the drainage of rainwater and, at the same time, make their presence felt. The innovative, severe weather management system for urban use directs the flow of the rain, reinforces its sound while it is running through the channels and slows down the drainage of the water.
“The jury liked this project a lot. There is a need to be able to organise and solve issues where they occur in urban public spaces and, in this way, improve their quality. All in all, this is a very well-thought-out modular system that could help to improve the quality of urban public spaces,” Red Dot jury member Professor Werner Aisslinger says.
The “Interaction” category produced another nominee for the Red Dot: Luminary 2019 - Hidden Senses by the Sony Corporation from Japan. The concept uses graphic surfaces with a visually minimalist design to enrich everyday life and give it a calmer, more pleasant feel. Sensory experiences, projections and other technologies are used to trigger different sequences of interactions with familiar household objects.
Red Dot jury member Professor Song Kee Hong comments on this as follows, “What makes this concept so far-reaching is the employment of speculative design to create new forms of interaction between technology and the users of the future. The application of technology takes into consideration cultural norms as well as technical feasibility. It provides an insight into the options that the future may hold.”
Another nominee for the Red Dot: Luminary is Qoobi ONE by Qoobi B.V. the Netherlands from the “Entertainment” category. This wireless tube pre-amplifier uses vacuum tubes to transform digital music into a smooth analogue signal. This allows users to play digital music files from all sources using Bluetooth so they can enjoy vinyl quality sound with the speakers of their choice.
Gift Look from the “Packaging Design” category, designed by the Panasonic Corporation from Japan, was also nominated for the award’s highest distinction. The concept adapts to different product shapes and ensures maximum use of space. Instead of cardboard, Gift Look uses recycled plastic which means the packaging can be re-used more often than a normal shipping carton.
“Cardboard packaging has the problem of often not really fitting into a standard box very well. This is a solution that is adaptable in size and that can also be reused. It also looks good, so that users will use it not only as packaging, but also as a gift,” Red Dot jury member Danny Venlet says. “That also heralds a multitude of benefits for the future of online shopping.”
Winners honoured at the award ceremony in Singapore
The winners of the Red Dot Award: Design Concept 2019 will be announced on 25 September. Winning designers from around the world flock to Singapore to receive their awards on stage. The event will keep the audience on tenterhooks until the very end at which point the winners of the Red Dot: Luminary will be revealed, thus reflecting the high esteem for the best design concepts of the year 2019.