Focus Green 2008

Focus Green 2008

Son Başvuru Tarihi: 20 Mart 2008
İletişim Web Sitesi: www.design-center.de

The Design Center Stuttgart, run by the government of Baden-Württemberg, is calling for entries for the Baden-Württemberg International Design Award, which in 2008 will have the theme Focus Green.

This government award is given to manufacturers and designers for forward - looking, professional and excellent design work. The “Focus in Gold” and “Focus in Silver” design awards are highly sought after as guarantees of the highest design quality. With the "Focus" topic changing each year, the competition presents a special challenge for entrants. The competition shows who has the best-designed solutions for current trends and for the topics that are of particular interest for experts and the general public. This renowned competition can look back on a long tradition and enjoys an excellent reputation both in Germany and abroad.

Focus Green – The Topic
Today, sustainable development, climate protection and the conservation of our natural resources are being discussed more and more in public debate, and are playing a crucial role in political and economic decisions. In addition, environmentally friendly ways of life are finding more and more advocates, and national and international markets are reacting to meet this demand. Moreover, as raw materials become scarcer and more expensive worldwide, energy and resource-saving measures are pivotal to companies’ economic success. This is why there is a need for design and development that illustrate and implement creative solutions and innovations for more environmentally friendly products.

Eco - friendly products display properties such as the following:
- Potentially long service life thanks to formally timeless and high-quality design
- Options for servicing, maintenance and repair
- Reduced use of raw materials and resources thanks to appropriate, minimized use of materials
- Preference given to materials with a favourable eco-balance
- Way in which materials are used (as non-composite or composite materials, for example)
- Consideration of sensible and feasible possibilities for recycling, either by labelling materials or in the design principles used
- Manufacturing processes that consider the use of auxiliary and consumable materials
- Energy consumption of the product during manufacturing and use

These criteria will be given special importance in Focus Green. Of course, your products will also be assessed according to the usual design criteria such as ergonomics, functionality, aesthetics, etc. In the best case, you will as a contestant provide evidence of the integration of design and product development in your environmental management system, together with reports on the successful validation of environmental management systems such as EMAS or ISO 14001.

Fair and Respectable – The Principles Behind The Competition
The competition’s non-commercial design allows small and medium-sized enterprises to participate. To guarantee the greatest objectivity, all entries are judged in the original if at all possible, and are not first filtered by a judges’ panel working on the basis of photographs. The products are assessed by a panel of internationally experienced and acknowledged experts from a variety of design disciplines, and great value is attached to their neutrality.

Participants
The competition is open to any manufacturer or designer of industrial series-manufactured products, from anywhere in the world. Any product which has not been on the market for longer than two years may be entered for one of the categories. While prototypes whose readiness for series production is guaranteed can also be entered, artistic works can not.

Registration per Product: 120 Euros

Product Awards
The jury gives the "Focus in Silver" award to excellently designed products. The award distinguishes all those products whose outstanding design quality makes them the best in any one product category. In each category, only one product can attain the supreme "Focus in Gold" award. The awards given to products are a clear competitive advantage for manufacturers and designers, for the "Focus in Gold" and the "Focus in Silver" are a guarantee of the highest product quality, and are an effective aid to marketing communication.

What's in It for Award winners?
- Award - giving and exhibition-opening ceremony, at which all the award-winning products become the focus of publicattention for the first time.
- Exhibition lasting several weeks in Ludwigsburg, which is famous for its film and media scene.
- Publication in the yearbook, which is sold on the major international markets via a renowned design books publisher.
- Certificate and print template of the label for individual marketing purposes.
- Support with editing the internet presentation of all products that receive the "Focus in Gold", as well as online links to the "Focus in Silver" award-winners.
- Popular award-all the products on display in the exhibition are automatically included when choosing the winner of this special prize. Visitors to the exhibition choose their personal favourite from the products on show. If your product receives a special award, you can use the label template for your marketing and PR.

Judges Panel
- Roland Heiler, Porsche Design GmbH, AT
- Nicola Stattmann, Büro Nicola Stattmann, DE
- Alex Terzariol, MM Design Ltd, IT
- Ursula Tischner, Econcept, DE
- James Whittacker, Frog Design, DE
- Martin Zentner, Design Report, DE

Dates
Final Date for Submitting Entries 20 March 2008
Delivery of Products 02 - 11 April 2008
Judging and Notification of The Judges’ Decision Beginning of May 2008
Collection of Rejected Products 13 - 16 May 2008
Awards Ceremony and Preview 17 October 2008
Duration of The Exhibition 18 October - 30 November 2008
Final Day of Exhibition and Award of Popular Prize 30 November 2008
Collection of Exhibited Products 02 - 04 December 2008

Yarisma Sartnamesi: