Interview with jury

How is a professional design concept competition like the red dot award: design concept important to designers and companies?

Conceptual design is of utmost importance to designers and companies, but only in the area of real innovation and not when related to styling or mere beautification of marketing gimmicks and things no one really needs.

What trends did you spot in the category
of “Green”?

There were a great number of entries, but so very few real "Green" ones. It looks like it’s fashionable to be "green" and the whole topic is rather taken by advertising and sales in order to support their old gadgets in the market.

What do you think is the most important criteria when deciding to award a red dot in the category “Workplace”?

The most important criterion would be finding new solutions to old questions about existing problems. It can be practical solutions for everyday life situations, making processes easier and better. For instance, it can be a solution for the workplace to allow better organisation, to give easy access to spaces and things, to increase the efficiency and/or accuracy of a certain task, to improve the environmental friendliness of a certain system, or to enhance convenience for the user.

What was the general experience at the adjudication of the red dot award: design concept 2010?

There is still not a clear differentiation between styling and design, although both are without comparison.