Blog report on Design and Brexit at V&A

Guy Julier recently posted his blog report on the V&A panel discussion regarding design and Brexit which he organisaised at the V&A. It can be found here.

Design & Brexit at the V&A

Today - Friday 3 February - sees the return of the University of Brighton/Victoria and Albert Museum Design Culture Salon to the V&A.

See:  http://designculturesalon.org 

The subject of this week's discussion is Brexit design: how will it function in and out of Europe? 

I am happy to have been invited to join the panel with members including: 

• Franco Bianchini, Professor of Cultural Policy and Head of the Institute for Research on Culture and the Creative Industries, University of Hull
• Alastair Donald, associate director Institute of Ideas, co-founder New Narratives, convenor Future Cities Salon 
• Sarah Mann, Director of Architecture, Design and Fashion, British Council
• Robert Mull, Professor of Architecture and Head of School of Architecture and Design, University of Brighton, founder of Dezeen Brexit Design Manifesto
• Michael Thomson, CEO Design Connect and former President, Bureau of European Design Associations 

It starts at 1830h.

It takes place in Clore 55 at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

It's free and you don't have to book.

Juror, German Design Award 2017, Frankfurt

I was invited to sit on the Jury of the 2017 German Design Award and spent a very stimulating two days judging last week in Frankfurt with the German Design Council.  The German Design Council was established as a Foundation in 1953 as a far-sighted initiative of the German Bundestag (the lower house of German Parliament).

Forty-four judges worked in small specialist teams to scrutinise 4,058 entries across 49 categories ranging from Household and Retail through Baby and Child Care to Audio Visual, Interactive User Experience and Apps.  I was judging in a team with fellow jurors Michael Richter, (Founding Partner Iconmobile Group and Professor at the Hochschüle Darmstadt), and Deutsche Telekom's Philipp Thesen, (Senior Vice President, Lead Design).

The Awards Ceremony for the winners will be held in February 2017 during Ambiente.

The German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung) also publishes Design Report.

Coffee time in Trieste

 

An excellent visit to Illy HQ in Trieste this morning with Francesca Marchi of the AREA Science Park and Nils Duelfer of A.T. Kearney who is an associate involved with the Improve Academy which works to improve the management of the sustainable innovation performance.

Photo: Francesca Marchi

We were very fortunate in that Francesca had arranged for us to meet with the Corporate Director for R&D, Mr Furio Suggi Liverani. Mr Liverani spent a good deal of time with us relating the fascinating story of the development and growth of Illy over the past eight decades.

Established in 1933 by Francesco Illy, the company is a testament to the power of continuous and pioneering innovation underpinned by a passion for science, research and knowledge. Illy achieves the highest possible product and service quality through an enduring commitment to user-centred design. The end customers' experience of the coffee they produce lies at the heart of everything they do.

In 1935, Francesco invented the Illeta - the precursor to the modern espresso machine. Its submarine-like aesthetic derives from the fact that the piping and valves was indeed developed with the support of submarine engineers who worked in Trieste's shipyards.

Due to his revolutionary method for preserving coffee, taste and aroma through 'pressurisation' packaging, for the first time, it became possible to guarantee a balanced flavour rather than a burnt and bitter one.  And significantly for business growth, it also meant that it became possible to export.

Created by the pop artist James Rosenquist in 1996, the current version of the logomark is distinctive and instantly recognisable.

Its more mechanical and straight-laced predecessor is shown below on the 1974 packaging of the innovative vacuum packed ESE coffee system (Easy Serving Espresso).

This too was revolutionary as it suddenly allowed delightful espresso to became available to customers everywhere - whether at home, in the office or at their favourite restaurant or café.

My thanks to Francesca and Mr Liverani for a fascinating and compelling visit.

Milan Expo, Design for Europe Seminar

This is the view from the meeting room in the EU Pavillion at Milan EXPO 2015 where this afternoon I will be chairing the event, 'Design-driven innovation for food industry'. This is co-organised under the umbrella of Design for Europe, by DG Grow of the European Commission with the Politechnico Milano and the Danish Design Centre. The programme can be found here.

We have great speakers lined up from both the food industries and design. The afternoon will be opened with a speech from Mark Niklas, Deputy head of Unit, Innovation Policy and Investment for Growth in the European Commission's DG Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs.

Also presenting will be Beate Kettlitz, FoodDrinkEurope; Emily Boniface from the Nestle Product Technology Centre in the UK; Victoria Spadaro Grant, Chief R&D and Quality Officer of the Barilla Group and finally, Lotte Lyngsted Jepsen, Innovation Director and Partner of Hatch and Bloom, service designers in Copenhagen.

I am looking forward to seeing more pavillions after the event.

Design for Europe Conference, Brussels

Professor Lou from Tongji. No room for his Shanghai dot on the map provided! (Spot the orange dot on the right). We last met when he was a speaker with Ezio Manzini (as he will today) at the World Design Capital 2014 Cape Town conference on policy last October. Lou is closely involved in design policy developments currently building momentum in China.

Kick off of the Design for Europe Conference

Kick off of Design for Europe conference.