• Preview of Materialica 2007
• Review of Materialica 2007
• Preview of Eurocoat 2008

By Ania Dardas

Now in its fourth year, the Materialica Design Awards are held annually and presented during the Materialica International Trade Fair for Material Applications, surface Technology and Product Engineering. The project partner for the Awards in the Design Zentrum Munich.

Directed primarily at industrial designers, for the first time Materialica Design Awards is inviting entries from students. In the products category, both students and designers are invited to submit entries for application in the following industries: automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, sports and consumers goods and medical systems. By including this new ‘Best of Student’ category, Materialica is aiming to encourage students to think about combining materials and design together with use of innovative materials and technological precision.

The jury reflects a broad range of talent with Christian Labonte who is responsible for design strategy at Audi, Marc S Velten – Manager of Advanced Design at the EADS Corporate Research Center and Christoph Konetschny, Director of Materialsgate, among others.

The three main categories for these awards are materials, surfaces and products and the judges work according to specific criteria for each category. Two criteria are found in all three: future and innovation potential as well as sustainability. And functionality is close to the top of the list for both surfaces and products.

These design awards are focused on technical innovation combined with quality design as testified to by past winners. One of the winners in the materials category, the Serpa cable-tidy provides a deceptively simple solution to excess cable in the form of a colorful spiral that is wound around the cable in question. Made of two layers of plastic, the inner core provides for elasticity while the soft outer layer protects the cable.

Winner “Materials”: Serpa cable-tidy

Another winner in the same category was the ContiMetalflex^® a new material that combines flexibility and weather resistant properties using different reinforcing materials and pigments with the option of varying the coatings. The material is flame retardant and can withstand temperatures between –20°C and 120°C and can be incorporated into a wide variety of products.

Winner “Materials”: ContiMetalflex^®

German company Designafairs has a lot of experience with industrial design and the importance of materials and color for functionality and character - its 2005 winner in the surfaces category was a cunning textured bowl.

Winner “Surface”: A/Design Schale