Winner of the Design Management Award 2016
Award winner
Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé Ltd
Jury statement
Rózsavölgyi Csokoládé (Chocolate) demonstrates an outstanding use of all the aspects of design and the opportunities inherent in design with an astonishing consciousness. They show a creative approach with handicraft ingenuity toward their products and the related services, producing an end-product that is up-to-date and fresh but future-proof and stylish at the same time. Apart from the hang of chocolate production, this brand showcases several unique aesthetic and business features from the selection of sources of purchase to the development of the culture of chocolate consumption and social consciousness.
Every aspect of Rózsavölgyi chocolate, which is produced with traditional handicraft methods, is pervaded by design-conscious thinking and cost-efficient design solutions with up-to-date business perspectives. Apart from providing a competitive edge, this complex approach, which is in line with international trends, has top ranking in the market of premium-quality presents. The packaging and the related communication is well-conceived and many-layered. The company almost entirely uses 95 % recycled paper, which they fold with a complex origami technique. The appearance is the result of excellently devised action, but it is informative and up-to-date as well since the award-winning products and the social commitment are marked with a metal seal and stickers, respectively.
Special Prize Awarded by HIPAVILON Hungarian Intellectual Property Agency
SOLINFO Lighting & Home
Jury statement
SOLINFO Lighting & Home is a major player on the market of internal architecture, which enables interior designers and lighting specialists to plan from a world-class selection of products and efficiently shares the knowledge of design and use that has been accumulated in the company. The show room does not only serve to introduce best practice examples but it helps participants to discuss and further develop these practices. Thus, it provides a firm base and a complex service to designers and interior architects so that they could perform excellent work of design.
Seven other nominees have been deemed by the jury as being exemplary and worthy of recognition.
KÉK - Contemporary Architecture Centre
Jury statement
The Contemporary Architecture Centre primarily aims to encourage dialogue about architecture, the city and its culture between city dwellers and architects. It has been spearheading the formation of contemporary architecture, urbanism and civil society in Hungary through its activities in the last ten years. Based on the toolkit of design thinking, the centre attempts to link contemporary architecture to the international space and support innovative initiatives. Their projects, which concentrate on the use, the regeneration and the sustainability of the city, innovation and community formation, and their programs for the profession and the public (temporary exhibitions, conferences, podium talks, workshops, architecture walks, international festivals and conferences about contemporary architecture, urbanism and innovative use of monuments) have received more than 400 thousand visitors in the ten-year operation of the centre. A new centre of urbanism and culture as well as a community space has been established in their new headquarter in Bartók Béla Street.
Kristinus Wine Estate Ltd
Jury statement
Kristinus Wine Estate is a medium-sized business with a strong identity and mission statement that appeals to a well-defined target segment. Both the Balaton region and the service centre in Kéthely are developing and cultivating a multi-dimensional wine experience spectrum with a determination for quality. The wide spectrum of services from wine production, through gastroexperiences to cultural events demands the establishment of a characteristic “umbrella brand” and the presented image and brand family is an excellent example for that. The “cellar key” entity is excellently transmitted by the Balaton key hole, which forms an exclamation mark, and the “stealthily watch” for the landscape while the ambitious market self-positioning is well supported by the elegant colour and typography elements. The presented set is an example of a moderate solution that enriches the current trends.
Manooi Ltd
Jury statement
The segment of luminaires is a very exciting field within contemporary design since the pieces that represent the latest technological advances are more than a simple source of light: they have unique characteristics, they are spectacular and they sometimes resemble internal decorations and definitely transmit emotions through light. Manooi, which became an internationally known design brand in only a few years, operates in this field. This brand is regularly present at the most important trade fairs where participants fighting for the attention of the profession and the public face fierce competition. It is not enough here to show carefully designed objects but they also need to convey the message of the brand in a complex way with the right image elements, installation solutions and communication tools. Manooi successfully launched its innovative lamps that re-defined the category of classical crystal chandeliers in the market of premium products, and they also established a new related brand for another market segment by recognising new trends of market demand and applying up-to-date technological solutions. The two companies, Manooi and Inarchi Lighting, which appeal to very different target segments, are excellent examples of design-driven thinking and well-conceived brand building being adaptive systems that are capable of creating enduring values.
Unikát Lp
Jury statement
Unikát Lp played an important role in providing products with a remarkable concept and a valuable design to a great many customers and the public that are open to values. This type of mediator role produces value added to both the designers and the customers, contributing to the establishment and development of design consciousness and the creation of markets that is important from the aspect of management. During its operation of more than 20 years, the company has provided opportunities of publicity and sales to several thousands of artists and the opportunity of participating in such events to several thousands of visitors and customers on the Hungarian and international market alike.
Zsolnay Heritage Managing Nonprofit Ltd - Kodály Centre
Jury statement
Zsolnay Cultural Quarter, which was recognised as a Hungaricum in 2014, is one of the most prominent workshops of Hungarian handicrafts. It was established through the –revitalisation of the unused buildings and parks of the Zsolnay factory. We will see a special product of industrial design at every corner of the facilities and the works of the most successful Hungarian designers and star artists of the various world fairs in the exhibition hall. This is the quarter where the famous gloves factory of Pécs that re-designed Hammerli started its operation. The management activities of Zsolnay Cultural Quarter integrate a number of cultural and artistic fields through the continuous programs of the Medieval University, the House of Art and Literature and the Gallery of Pécs. Kodály Centre, which is the most representative building of music in Pécs, is also hosted in the quarter. The house can simultaneously serve three purposes: it provides a room for the resident orchestra, a gala room for the guests and conference rooms for business meetings. The gala room of the building has unique acoustics.
Autistic Art Ltd
Jury statement
Design thinking has not only appeared in the business and market sectors but also in the civil and social sphere in recent years. An excellent example of which is the Autistic Art Program and design brand, which intends to produce premium quality products by using the work of young people with autism and by involving young designers. Design puts the graphics in a new physical and social context by emphasising their uniqueness and producing value added for the consumers who will contribute to the support of autistic people’s homes through their purchases. The brand exceeds the classical charity mechanism and the output is a competitive and exclusive product while increasing social dignity for people with autism at the same time.
Hedon Brewery Ltd
Jury statement
Hedon Brewery, which conscienciously uses the tools of design and design thinking in product development and brand building, is a bright spot in the so-far narrow market of craft beers in Hungary. The brews made by Hedon, a company operating in Balatonvilágos since 2015, follow the brave traditions and experimental approach of wandering breweries, and nicely go together with the Flying Objects Design Studio’s fresh, cool and humorous visual identity, packaging and promotional products which have broken with the pathos represented by handicrafts and communicate with customers creatively, in a contemporary language. Hedon is a proof of the fact that design is not only about aesthetics or packaging but an integrated approach.