Winning design: BraunPrize 2015 announces trio of champions
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

High excitement at the consumer electronics manufacturer Braun this week, as the finalists of BraunPrize 2015 were paraded in front of an audience at their HQ in the small German town of Kronberg. The prize started in 1968 under the stewardship of Braun’s then design director Dieter Rams. Since the departure of that influential visionary in 1995, and Braun’s purchase by US brand P&G a decade later, Braun seems to have lost its aesthetic way. But this year’s BraunPrize injected some thought-provoking conceptual ideas into the building.
The competition brief called for product concepts that put 'the extra in the ordinary,' because 'we surround ourselves with things we don’t really value, instead of focusing on fewer but better solutions that contribute to our lives,' says Braun design director Oliver Grabes.
The jury had whittled down more than 2,500 entries to just three finalists in two categories - students, professionals and enthusiasts – who would share the $75,000 prize money. After each presented their concept, the outright winner was chosen through an audience ballot – an unusual twist for such a competition. Roel Deden of Design Academy Eindhoven in The Netherlands came out on top of the students for Printhesis, an ingenious cheap, lightweight, 3D-printed prosthetics concept.
In the second category, Helsinki-based designer Mats Lönngren won with Ahti X 1, a life jacket with built-in mobile technology to locate a man overboard and speed up rescue. For its Rams-like minimalism, perhaps, a smart fuse box for homes called Fuse by DCA Design International in Warwick, UK, was awarded silver.
If votes had been cast for presentation style alone, the three-strong industrial design team from China’s Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts would have won hands down. Looking unfeasibly young and dapper in dark suits, Dong Ding, JinCai Ma and JunXi Huang (one of them sporting a chic bowtie) gravely stood to attention while an English-speaking companion delivered their entry. Wiper Barricade Lights, an LED warning concept for car rear windows was rewarded with bronze.
The ceremony took place at Braun’s HQ in the small German town of Kronberg
-
Venice Biennale 2024: a guide to the artists announced so far
Keep up-to-date with our ongoing list of who’s representing who at the Venice Biennale 2024 – here's what we know so far
By Martha Elliott • Published
-
New Nike book is an inspirational handbook for the next generation of creatives and athletes
New Nike book, ‘After all, there is No Finish Line’, features eye-catching black-and-white imagery and speculative fiction and essays that ponder design, innovation and sport
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Sophie Bille Brahe interprets the signet ring with a new initials jewellery
Sophie Bille Brahe’s new initials jewellery is ‘a personal way to express an eternal feeling of love’
By Tilly Macalister-Smith • Published
-
Virgil Abloh reimagines Braun’s iconic Wandanlage stereo
Braun and Virgil Abloh team up to celebrate the company's centenary with a new project that features timeless design, film and the designer's eclectic musical universe
By Rosa Bertoli • Last updated
-
Tony Chambers on why ‘less but better’ is the future for retail and design
By Tony Chambers • Last updated
-
A hole in one: celebrating 21 years of life-enhancing stuff
By Tony Chambers • Last updated
-
Vitsoe opens a new outpost in Munich
By Sophie Lovell • Last updated
-
Book: Dieter Rams - As Little Design as Possible
By Apphia Michael • Last updated