STUDIO WIEKI SOMERS WINNER GOLDEN EYE 2009

Best of the best Dutch design in 2009

Eindhoven, 17 October -The 20 Dutch Design Awards were presented to the awardwinners in Muziekcentrum Frits Philips during a dazzling and festive Award Show attended by an international audience of professionals. The award-giving ceremony of the special prizes, among which the Audi Design Award (Public Award), the Rado Young Designer Award (incentive prize for young talent), the Best Client Award, the Toon van Tuijl Design Prize, and the BNO - Piet Zwart Life Time Achievement Award, took place during the same award ceremony.

The international jury awarded the Golden Eye -the award for the best Dutch design in 2009 - to Studio Wieki Somers. From a design offer of more than 700 participants and 74 finalists, Merry-go-round coat rack proved to be the ‘best of the best'. "The Merry-go-round coat rack is a spatial ballet for coats, with a colour palette that is determined by the season. Its presence is so strong that one starts experiencing the museum the moment one enters the space: something as banal as a coat rack has clearly become a work of art itself. By participating, the user becomes part of the design. The engagement of the designer is tangible, the technical and aesthetic execution is excellent; all these qualities together make this the best design of the moment." During Dutch Design Week, the designs of all finalists and winners will be exhibited from 17 through 25 October in the Brainport Greenhouse on the Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven. After that, the exhibition will travel to several international destinations.

The international jury led by Karien van Gennip was greatly impressed by the diversity and high quality of the entries and the individuality and typically Dutch ‘identity' of the designs: "Dutch design has much to offer, and in our day and age it is especially important that design should be inspirational. And that is what it was, technically, aesthetically, and in terms of engagement. From these superb entries, we have chosen the true winners in the various categories and the

winner of the Golden Eye. In some categories, we would have welcomed a higher degree of innovation. Next year, we would also like to invite more up-and-coming designers to participate in addition to the more established designers. We are pleased with our choice and we congratulate the winners on having achieved the best in the field of our successful Dutch design."

The spectacular show in Studio Dumbar's event style was presented by Andrea van der Pol. Apart from the Golden Eye for Studio Wieki Somers, many more awards were presented. The Rado Young Designer Award went to Jelte van Abbema; Flying Grass Carpet was the favourite of the Dutch audience and won the Audi Dutch Design Award, while Demakersvan was declared the winner of the Toon van Tuijl Design Prize. The winners of the BNO - Piet Zwart Life Time Achievement Award (Gert Dumbar) and the Best Client Award (citizenM) were announced earlier this week. See the complete list of all the winners in the main categories of Communication, Product, and Spatial, the winners of the special prizes. During the Award Show, the first copy of the Dutch Design Jaarboek 2009/Dutch Design Yearbook 2009, a publication of NAi Uitgevers in collaboration with the Dutch Design Awards, was presented to Rob van Gijzel, Mayor of Eindhoven. From now on, this yearbook will appear annually, presenting an overview of the best designs created in the Netherlands in the field of spatial, product design, fashion, and graphic design.

Trends in design

Like previous years, the level of the entries competing for one of the internationally renowned Dutch Design Awards was high. For many years now, Dutch designers have internationally been at the top, at home and abroad. They are often regarded as trendsetters. Also in this 7th edition of the Awards, a number of recurring themes could be identified. It is obvious, for instance, that Dutch designers are more than ever searching for meaningful products. The ideas are slowly breaking free from the established themes, and the cultural statements are increasingly focussed on social issues. In addition to this, a new penchant for the perfectly designed and executed form seems to bloom. Worth mentioning is also that in their design some of the participants are clearly striving for authenticity: renewed attention is given to the

origin of the product as well as the development process. Themes such as sustainability and ease of use are highly recognisable in all categories. Furthermore, the organisation has noticed a shift in the role of design. Design is at an earlier stage in the process recognised as an important factor for the success of a product, and a means to constitute a bridge between technology and advanced intuitive ease of use.

Selection procedure competition and festive Award Show

The selection committees consisting of professionals from the fields of Communication, Product, and Spatial select the finalists per sub-category from the total supply of the work scouted and the online entries. The international jury led by Karien van Gennip (Chairwoman, the Netherlands) is comprised of Li Edelkoort (France), Cara McCarty (USA), Marcus Fairs (UK), Christoph Zellweger (Switzerland), Ilse Crawford (UK) , James Woudhuysen (UK), Rajesh Kejriwal (India), Ravi Naidoo (South Africa), Axel Enthoven (Belgium), Will Erens (Belgium), Timo de Rijk (Chairman selection committee Product), Bert van Meggelen (Chairman selection committee Spatial), Ton Kooymans (Chairman Rado Young Designer Award), and Vincent van Baar (Chairman selection committee Communication).

Dutch Design Awards

Dutch Design Awards are the prestigious awards for the best Dutch Design available. The annual event comprises the competition, the international travelling exhibition, and the production of the Dutch Design Yearbook 2009. These activities ensure a platform for the presentation and recognition of the best of Dutch design - across the full width of the design field. The selection committees select the finalists per sub-category from the total supply of the work scouted and the online entries. For the 7th edition of these internationally recognised professional awards, 74 finalists were selected from more than 700 projects. The winners - competing for a total of 20 Awards in the main categories of Communication, Product, and Spatial - were chosen by an international jury and announced during the festive Award Show on 17 October 17, 2009. On this occasion, also the winners of Awards in the following special categories were announced: The Golden Eye (most successful design of 2009), the Audi Design Award (public award), the Rado Young Designer Award (incentive award for young talent), the Best Client Award, and the BNO - Piet Zwart Life Time Achievement Award. The designs of all finalists and winners will subsequently be exhibited for one week in the Brainport Greenhouse on the Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven during Dutch Design Week.

Design Connection Brainport in Eindhoven is responsible for the project management of the Dutch Design Awards, by order of the Municipality of Eindhoven. The cities of Eindhoven (the Netherlands) and Helsinki (Finland) are in the race for the title of World Design Capital 2012.

Dutch Design Awards has been made possible by the Municipality Eindhoven, BNO, Design Connection Brainport, Audi, Rado, Studio Dumbar, Lecturis printing company, BϋhrmannUbbens, Toon van Tuijl Design Prize, Brainport Development, Dutch Design Week, Eigen Huis & Interieur, Items.