Dirk Schumann
Dirk Schumann, born in 1960 in Soest, studied product design at Münster University of Applied Sciences. After graduating in 1987, he joined oco-design as an industrial designer, moved to siegerdesign in 1989, and was a lecturer in product design at Münster University of Applied Sciences until 1991. In 1992, he founded his own design studio Schumanndesign in Münster, developing design concepts for companies in Germany, Italy, India, Thailand and China.
For several years now, he has focused on conceptual architecture, created visionary living spaces and held lectures at international conferences. Dirk Schumann has taken part in exhibitions both in Germany and abroad with works that have garnered several awards, including the Gold Prize (Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Prize) in the International Design Competition, the Comfort & Design Award, the iF product design award, the Focus in Gold, as well as the Good Design Award. In 2015, he founded Schumann&Wang in Xiamen City, the Chinese subsidiary of Schumanndesign.
Red Dot in an interview with Dirk Schumann
Red Dot: What does Schumanndesign stand for?
Dirk Schumann: We stand for independent design concepts, marketoriented design concepts and timeless design concepts with an international approach.
How does the evaluation process function at Red Dot?
The heterogeneous nature of the international jury members offers a wide spectrum of perception and evaluations. A clearly structured voting process leads to clear decisions based on the insights gained.
To what extent has the perception of design quality changed in recent years?
There is now much greater and more widespread awareness of the multifaceted nature of design and its far-reaching influence on many areas of life. Institutions use this change in perception to create greater design awareness in industrial companies so as to make their product developments more efficient, more user-friendly, more durable and hence more sustainable.