Through our World Design Partner® Programme, we collaborate with innovative companies to highlight the importance of good design for good business and the power of responsible behaviour for brand enhancement. Rado joins us again this year as a World Design Partner® in conjunction with World Design Capital® Taipei 2016. We spoke with Rado’s CEO Matthias Breschan about design innovation and supporting the next generation of creative minds.
Q: Products and services succeed through their distinctive capabilities. Rado’s competitive advantages are seen as your industrial design innovation and use of new materials. How do you sustain this type of leadership long-term?
One of Rado’s strengths is bringing unexpected, cutting-edge materials into watchmaking. We always look to other industries as a source of inspiration. Ceramic, for instance, got its start in the medical and aerospace industries before Rado used it to make watches. Of course, this kind of design innovation comes with risk, so it’s important to be bold when venturing into new territory.
Q: Today, companies view solving the world’s toughest problems as a business priority. Good design is good business. A small number of well-known brands are leading the way. They are looking for strategies to overcome global challenges like income inequalities, youth unemployment, and climate change. Can you talk about Rado as a business trend leader in this regard?
At Rado we not only win design awards for our watches, we also organize design awards for young, up-and-coming designers. We hold Rado Star Prize design competitions around the world, which is our way of supporting rising young designers from diverse disciplines and giving them a platform for their work. Investing in the next generation of creative minds is our contribution to solving the challenges of the future.
Q: Rado Star Prize is making a distinct mark in many global communities, for instance as Icsid witnessed in Cape Town (South Africa) as part of Rado’s involvement in World Design Capital® 2014. Can you tell us how this local effort connects your company’s interests not only at the local level but also to the world at large?
Rado stands for both distinctive watch design and for our many years of developing young talents. During World Design Capital® 2014 in Cape Town, we held the first ever Rado Star Prize South Africa. The winner was a really inspiring social design project – moulds that can be used to create dolls. The idea was to promote early childhood development in disadvantaged children who might not otherwise have access to toys. This spirit of innovation is something that Rado strongly identifies with and wants to promote in the upcoming generation.
Q: What advice do you have for other companies aspiring to use design to generate products and services for a better world, i.e. to deliver tangible improvements to human life?
Be fearless. Be inspired by design that challenges the status quo, and be open to the unexpected.
Q: World Design Capital® is a premier opportunity for World Design Partners® to gain increased visibility in new markets, to promote products and services to new audiences, and to contribute to community building initiatives. Rado has embraced this opportunity to lead by combining its business objectives with innovative design-driven initiatives to re-invent cities. Can you expand on your commitment to design and the confidence you have in design and its capabilities to build communities?
Rado has a strong commitment to promoting industrial design, young designers, and the design world in general. Rado regularly wins design awards and holds Rado Star Prize competitions for young designers around the world. By partnering with platforms such as World Design Capital®, we can promote our innovative timepieces and develop an ongoing dialogue between designers, companies and consumers, which is the way forward when it comes to improving lives through design.