• Eight finalist designs shortlisted, representing the best of European industrial and product design
  • Lifetime Achievement Award winner is André Ricard, renowned for the torch design of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics
  • The ceremony will take place in Eindhoven on 19 October 

The DesignEuropa Awards finalists in the Industry and Small and Emerging Companies categories are revealed today, along with the winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award. The finalists come from 7 countries (Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United States). They cover major brands such as Philips, John Deere, ASSA ABLOY and Actiu as well as newcomers such as StethoMe, MiniFinder, Relio² and Knister. They also represent a wide range of sectors, including healthcare, advanced engineering, automation and access solutions, furniture, professional lighting, outdoor appliances, security and IoT. All of them are setting new standards in the design industry.

Now in their third edition, the DesignEuropa Awards are organised by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to give recognition to both products and their designers in the field of industrial design.

The winners will be announced on 19 October 2021 at the awards ceremony in Eindhoven, which will also be live-streamed. During the ceremony, the Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to one of the pioneers, and most influential industrial designers of our time, André Ricard.

The Executive Director of the EUIPO, Christian Archambeau, said:

The DesignEuropa Awards are an important opportunity for us to recognise not only the economic and practical impacts of innovative designs, but also their cultural impact. In addition to the eight excellent finalists (in the Industry and Small and Emerging Companies categories) it is a privilege to recognise the many contributions of André Ricard through the Lifetime Achievement Award. His iconic designs have appeared in both the background and foreground of our lives since the 1960s, from perfume bottles to the Olympic torch. This illustrates just how design shapes every part of our lives and serve to inspire new creations from generation to generation.

The jury of the awards is led by Päivi Tahkokallio, renowned Finnish designer and President of the Bureau of European Design Associations (BEDA). The other 11 jury members are drawn from the fields of design, business, and intellectual property. They are all recognised leaders in their respective areas of specialisation and bring a wealth of expertise gained over the course of their professional careers.

The Lifetime Achievement Award winner: André Ricard

André Ricard, this year’s Lifetime achievement winner, is a highly influential figure and source of inspiration for Spanish and European design for generations of designers.

His Copenhagen ashtray is considered a symbol of the 1960s. A perfume bottle he created in 1968 is still in production and sold all over the world. The Tatu lamp, designed in 1972, looks as modern now as it did back then. His majestic hanging lamps have graced the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid for decades now. In 1992, his Olympic torch design shone a light on his home city of Barcelona and introduced him to an even wider audience.

The finalist designs

The Industry category recognises outstanding designs from large and medium-sized businesses. The finalist designs in this category are:

  • SWEDEN: Aperio® H100 smart door handle (ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions; designers: Mauro Menin)
  • THE NETHERLANDS: Philips IntelliVue X3 portable patient monitor (Koninklijke Philips V.; designers: Fabian Benedikter and Ceren Bagatar)
  • SPAIN: Talent desk system (Actiu Berbegal y Formas A.; designer: Marcelo Alegre)
  • USA: John Deere 8 Series tractors (Deere & Company; designers: Felix Nagelin, Brian Huenink, John W. Krieger, Eric Keen, Sebastian M. Himpel, Thorsten Hagner, Daniel J. Deboer, Martin Clay, Michael D. Kollath, Richard Knowels Jr, Thomas C. Boe, Charles Warren)

The Small and Emerging Companies category recognises outstanding designs from small companies as well as from recently established companies, regardless of their size. The finalist designs in this category are:

  • GERMANY: Knister Grill (Knister GmbH; designer: Carolin Kunert)
  • SWEDEN: MiniFinder Nano personal safety alarm (MiniFinder Sweden AB; designer: Dean Maros)
  • ITALY: Relio² professional lighting system (Relio Labs r.l.; designer: Marco Bozzola)
  • POLAND: StethoMe® digital stethoscope (StethoMe sp o.o.; designer: Michał Bonikowski)

The awards pay tribute to designs that are protected as registered Community designs (RCD). Managed by the EUIPO, the registered Community design is a popular intellectual property (IP) right, valid in all EU Member States. The EUIPO has now received 1.5 million direct RCD filings since 2003, when it started administering this IP right.

The EU has a rich design tradition and is a world leader in industrial design. Design-intensive industries account for 30.7 million direct jobs and make up 16.2 % of the EU’s total GDP. China is currently the biggest filer of registered Community designs, followed by Germany and the United States.

ABOUT THE DESIGNEUROPA AWARDS
The 2021 DesignEuropa Awards are presented in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property. The DesignEuropa Awards ceremony will take place on 19 October 2021 in Eindhoven, coinciding with Dutch Design Week (16-24 October). The DesignEuropa Awards are now in their third edition, following a first Award ceremony in Milan, Italy in 2016, and a second one in Warsaw, Poland in 2018.

ABOUT THE EUIPO
The EUIPO is a decentralised agency of the EU, based in Alicante, Spain. It manages the registration of the European Union trade mark (EUTM) and the registered Community design (RCD), both of which provide intellectual property protection in all EU Member States.

Media contact
EUIPO Communication Service
Tel.: +34 653 674 113
press@euipo.europa.eu