PRESSE RELEASE [2] Hannover/Munich, 28 February 2014

Glamorous awards ceremony for the winners of the iF product award 2014

From degree of innovation and choice of materials to functionality: the range of criteria for assessing design quality is broad and comprises a number of differentiated aspects. 1,220 entries were able to pass thorough evaluation by an international expert jury and were recognized with an iF award 2014. Representative of all award winners, the top 50 were presented with an iF gold award tonight, handed over by iF CEO Ralph Wiegmann. Taking place for the third time in the stunning of BMW World in Munich, the glamorous iF design awards night provided a worthy setting. Some 2,000 guests from the international design world, from the media, from business and politics celebrated the award winners’ achievements.

In January 2014, 49 international design experts came together at the Hanover exhibition center to assess a total of 3,249 entries in the 17 categories of the iF product design award 2014. With entries from 48 countries, the international reach and the large cultural panorama of the iF design awards were confirmed yet again. After intensive discussions, the jurors agreed and recognized 1,220 products with the iF label. The jurors were especially impressed by 50 entries which received an iF gold award in recognition of their superior design quality.

“What’s notable this year is that the importance of design is growing in areas in which it only used to play a secondary role. This change has led to outstanding achievements in, for example, the medical sector and also in other disciplines where we have observed better usability and intelligent use of materials. This development promises an exciting future for design”, said the jurors.

The Jury

Alongside jury chair Prof. Fritz Frenkler (f/p design GmbH, Munich/Germany) the jury for the iF product design award 2014 consisted of: Sven Baacke (Gaggenau Hausgeräte GmbH, Munich/Germany), Christoph Böninger (AUERBERG Produkte GmbH & Co.KG, Munich/Germany), Paul Budde (Budde Industrie Design GmbH, Munster/Germany), Serife Celebi (Ford-Werke GmbH, Cologne/Germany), Nicola Chamberlain (Veryday, Bromma/Sweden), Shikuan Chen (Compal Electronics Inc., Taipei/Taiwan), Paul Cohen (Cube , Watsons Bay/Australia), Rasmus Falkenberg (design-people, Aarhus/Denmark), Khodi Feiz (Feiz Design Studio, Amsterdam/Netherlands), Paul Flowers (Grohe AG, Dusseldorf/Germany), Patrick Frey (Patrick Frey Industrial Design, Hannover/Germany), Neil Gridley (Neil Gridley , Stockholm/Sweden), Lars Lyse Hansen (Bolia A/S, Aarhus/Denmark), Sam Hecht (Industrial Facility, London/Great Britain), Fred Held (Held+Team, Hamburg/Germany), Ronald Ihrig (IHRIG DESIGN, Buettelborn-Worfelden/Germany), Yoshifumi Ishikawa (Canon Inc., Tokyo/Japan), Sultan Kaygin Sel (VESTEL Electronics, Manisa/Turkey), Harri Koskinen (Iittala, Helsinki/Finland), Lidan Liu (designaffairs Shanghai Ltd., Shanghai/China), Sebastian Maier (Corpus-C, Fürth/Germany), Junki Moon (M.I. Design, Seoul/South Korea), Achim Nagel (Primus developments, Hamburg/Germany), Seyhan Özdemir (Autoban, Istanbul/Turkey), Oscar Peña (Philips Design Lighting, Eindhoven/Netherlands), André Poulheim (Frackenpohl Poulheim GmbH, Cologne/Germany), Robert Sachon (Robert Bosch Hausgeräte GmbH, Munich/Germany), Stefan Scholten (Scholten & Baijings, Amsterdam/Netherlands), Brian Stephens (Design

Partners, Bray/Ireland), Martin Topel (Squareone GmbH, Dusseldorf/Germany), and Oskar Zieta (Zieta Prozessdesign, Wroclaw/Poland).

From 1 March 2014: all award-winning entries on display in the iF design exhibition Hamburg

On March 1st, one day after the official awards ceremony at BMW Welt, the iF design exhibition Hamburg will present the first (of three) shows featuring the winners in the iF design awards 2014. Until June 2014, the award-winning entries in the iF packaging design award and in the audio/video, telecommunications, computer and office/business categories of the iF product design award will be presented as original products. The winning entries in the iF award and in the research + development/professional concepts categories will be shown in digital format.

>> Dates and exhibits for the two following 2014 shows can be found online at: http://www.ifdesign.de/exhibitions_index_e

NEW: the iF DESIGN App

The new free iF DESIGN App was launched on the night of the awards ceremony. All award-winning entries are presented in a stunning digital format, featuring more than 3,300 animated images and videos, as well as comprehensive descriptions. The first version also includes the 2013 award winners. In addition to information on award- winning entries, the iF DESIGN App also includes juror biographies for both years. http://www.ifdesign.de/media_app_en

iF online exhibition on www.ifdesign.de

From 28 February 2014, all award-winning entries will be shown in the iF online exhibition: www.ifdesign.de

At a glance iF product design award 2014 _3,249 Entries _17 Categories • 01. transportation design/special vehicles • 02. leisure/lifestyle • 03. audio/video • 04. telecommunications • 05. computer • 06. office/business • 07. lighting • 08. living room/bedroom • 09. kitchen • 10. household/tableware • 11. bathroom/wellness • 12. buildings

• 13. public design • 14. medicine/health+care • 15. industry/skilled trades • 16. material/textiles/wall+floor • 17. research+development/professional concepts

_1,220 iF design awards _50 iF gold awards _iF online exhibition: www.ifdesign.de

Your contact for further information and images: iF press office Cologne | Hannover Kevin MacArthur, Helena Broustin neumann Eigelstein 103-113 50668 Köln Germany phone +49 (0)221-91 39 49-0 fax +49 (0)221-91 39 49-19 [email protected] www.ifdesign.de

For detailed information on Munich Creative Business Week: www.mcbw.de