Trend: Visions in industrial design

Anything is possible, and there is a whole range of new ideas. For jury members Masayo Ave, Claudio Salocchi und Helen Yardley “the red dot: product design 2004” competition represents the industry in its potential for innovation. In many respects the products were examples of how production processes could also be optimised with regard to creativity. The differences between handiwork and industrial manufacture could easily be detected.

Many of the products in the competition creatively interpret this possibility, such as innovatively manufactured shoes. Partly due to new materials these shoes have interesting new characteristics: They are entirely waterproof yet remain breathable. By employing innovative design, as shown in these shoes, established brands are able to tap new target groups; the brand is re-interpreted. Shoes and bags are, furthermore, designed with a visionary eye and a high sensitivity for the meaning of aesthetics. To observe where the changes in industrial manufacture and of handiwork are, the jury says, will be one of the main tasks for the future and it will be a vast field for innovation as is, for instance, manifest in the design of eyeglasses.

Jewellery and precious stones highlight the trend of individuality by giving the wearers ample scope for the interpretation of their own personality. In line with this trend are aesthetic and imaginative accessories. They are manufactured from high-quality materials; meant for individualists and connoisseurs alike, they embody innovation in both form and function.

Jurors: Masayo Ave, Claudio Salocchi, Helen Yardley

You can find the winners of "red dot: best of the best" 2004 here.