Last Wednesday, the Future Prize of the support association of the Faculty of Design at The Hochschule Niederrhein (HSNR) was awarded for the first time. The award ceremony at the Future Work Lab in Krefeld's city center also marked the closing act of the faculty's 120th anniversary.
Nine design students submitted their theses to take part in the competition. These were evaluated by the jury consisting of Katia Baudin (Director of the Kunstmuseen Krefeld), Reinhard Henke (Managing Director of the advertising agency BUTTER) and Mone Schliephack (Professor of Illustration at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences). "When selecting the jury members, we deliberately chose representatives from the fields of culture, business and design studies, as design is effective in precisely this field of forces," says Professor Dr. Erik Schmid, Dean of the Faculty of Design and Chairman of the support association.
In order to determine the winners of the award, the jury used evaluation criteria such as originality and novelty of the idea, its creative and media implementation as well as the economic, social and communicative development potential of the submitted theses. In the end, the jury decided on two outstanding theses. Both prizewinners will receive 500 euros each.
"2981 Dinge" is the title of Elena Gilles' thesis, which focuses on the critical and multimedia documentation of things. For her work, she counted and listed everything she owns - 2981 things - and visualized them in her Bachelor's thesis in a reduced black and white design. "The social media post on your phone tells you that you can't go on living without this shirt. But at a time when resources are becoming increasingly scarce, we should all ask ourselves: how much do I really need? To survive, to live - where does luxury begin and where does sanity end? Against the masses, against the trend, against consumption, against waste. '2981 Things' is a great piece of work for a sustainable future," says juror Reinhard Henke about Elena Gilles' thesis. The result of her personal inventory can be found at www.2981dinge.de.
Marvin Moser also received a distinction. In his work "Good Boy", the graduate spans a conscious and unusually analytical bridge between personal experience and generative design. In his work, he asks why he wants to be a "good boy" and deals with questions about existence and self-doubt. He visualizes the results with the help of AI in four generative ceramics created using 3D printing. In this way, the imperfect, illogical and unexpected become a creative force and comprehensibly determine the uniqueness of his objects. "Since the beginning of my studies in communication design, I have always incorporated personal experiences, hurdles and the realities of life into the design of my projects," says Marvin Moser about his approach to his thesis. His conclusion: "I have shown my innermost self and I am good enough."
