In cooperation with the new trade show Design at Work, the Interieur Foundation presents the exhibition ‘Good Design is Good Business’. The event will introduce an overview of the Belgian companies and designers who received the prestigious red dot award in 2009 or were nominated for a prize. Each of these winning objects are examples of innovation, manufactured by companies who purposefully innovate and integrate design and product development within the process of research and marketing.

View from the exhibition Good Design is Good Business

The red dot award is organised by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen (Essen, DE). It is divided into the “red dot award: product design“, the “red dot award: communication design“ and the “red dot award: design concept”. In 2009, 12,076 entries were received from over 60 countries. The awards are known as one of the most demanding and prestigious ones in the design world. For the “red dot award: product design 2009″ alone, the 3,231 entries come from a total of 49 nations. The red dot selection echoes the qualities of innovation, functionality and form which also govern Design at Work. This year has seen a remarkable number of Belgian designers and Belgian companies (almost all exhibitors at Interieur or Design at Work) receiving red dot awards and nominations. All is well with Belgian product development and design!

The Belgian Tupperware design team was awarded the sought-after distinction of Design Team of the Year 2009. They were also nominated for the new Allegra bowls, a mixer and the Ultra Pro range of cookware. Alinea received a red dot award for Caldafreddo, a silver serving platter which helps keep a constant temperature for a long time. This was designed by Leo Aerts who also received a nomination for his Curva storage unit.

The international jury, including Brussels designer Danny Venlet, especially appreciated the Belgian lighting sector. For the first time, Delta Light was amongst the winners with the Topix wall lights, and Wever & Ducré were awarded a prize for the Concrete Tube designed by Wall-y. Dark is no stranger to Red Dot having repeatedly received the award in previous years. This time, they struck gold with the Spacewalker designed by Constantin Wortmann (DE), de Knarf and Canna-2 spots by Frank Janssens and the Paww wall lighting designed by Christophe De Ryck. The latter also received nominations for the T&T and Twolve ceiling lights, also by Dark.

The original and innovative sliding door system designed by Stefan Vanderick for Brems also received an Award, while the Snap chair by US designer Karim Rashid manufactured by Feek also made the selection.

The 5-door Seat Ibiza (ES) by Luc Donckerwolcke, the Hard Disk Mobile Drive XXS by Sylvain Willenz for Freecom (NL) and the new outdoor furniture range by Gloster(GB) designed by Enthoven Associates were amongst the honours. The Twine radiator by Jaga and the very aesthetic built-in switches by Niko also received a red dot award. Basalte were nominated for the Mona switches designed by Klaas Arnout and Sandra Maes.

Alongside the Belgian winners, the exhibition will feature a selection of sports products designed by the Oxylane Design team (FR). They develop more than 6,000 new sports products every year, and will be invited as an Honoured Company at the Design at Work event in December. Their presentation gives a taste of what’s to come in December. The team counts 60 nationalities, designs for 65 different sports and – via Decathlon – realised a turnover of 60 million sold items in 2008. The Good Design is Good Business exhibition will be open to the public from 10 September until 16 October incl. at the Interieurhuis, Groeningestraat 37, B 8500 Kortrijk, Monday to Friday from 9.00 am until 6.00 pm.

Later, this travelling exhibition will be on display in Hall 4 of Kortrijk Xpo Design at Work. Design at Work will open on Sunday 6 and Monday 7 December from 2.00 pm till 6.00 pm and on Tuesday 8, Wednesday 9 and Thursday 10 December from 1.00 pm till 8.00 pm. The selection will then travel to other European cities.