ANNUAL REPORT
Hungarian Design Council 2003
When it was established the Hungarian Design Council defined six courses of action in its three-year working plan. The working plan for 2003 was also created in the framework of this logic, and our activity was determined by this program.
System of institutions
In 2003 the HDC reformed the system of national awards and grants, and its legal basis. The former Industrial Design Award has been revamped under the name Hungarian Design Award with a new image and new categories. Also the advisory board of the Moholy-Nagy László Design Grant, which had not changed for years in its constitution was replaced by a new team this year. As a patron or sponsor, the HDC attended the highest ranking events of the profession in Hungary. Thanks to the HDC's efforts in a period of one and a half year the government decided in December 2003 to establish Design Terminál Kft. This made it possible to establish in the nearest future the institution of professional (Hungarian design) promotion which will further the cause of design according to the European practice, providing professional and operational support to the HDC's work, providing a forum for establishing relations between Hungarian designers and entrepreneurs, for organizing exhibitions and contests furthering design culture, and for introducing Hungarian design abroad.
Economic relations and incentives
A series of studies under the title Preparing a government strategy contributing to the development of the Hungarian design culture evaluates the most important international examples of design promotion, as well as the similar Hungarian experiments, and draws up recommendations for launching programs which would encourage the Hungarian undertakings to exploit the benefits of design in order to improve their competitiveness.
Social awareness
Among its responsibilities the HDC assigns a special role to promoting design among the widest groups of society. Accordingly, we have promoted the Hungarian Design Award in the most efficient way to date. Furthermore the HDC supported the publishing of several professional publications, including The Hungarian industrial art at the turn of the century (Hungarian Art Academy Foundation), the Hungarian workshops of form 2003 (Association of the Hungarian Furniture and Woodworking Industry) as well as the catalogue of the Association of the Young Industrial Artists' Studio (FISE).
Education and theory
Művészet- és designelmélet (Art and design theory) is the title of a submission that has been prepared with the intention of launching a new daytime course at the Hungarian University of Art and Design (MIE), and as a result, the accreditation process has also begun. The accredited industrial rights protection course continued in the Applied Art Institute (AMI) of the University of West Hungary and MIE. The MIE booklet Objects and society II, and the diploma catalogue of both the MIE and the AMI were published under the sponsorship of the HDC.
Protection of intellectual property
The office of the HDC conducts considerable promotional and higher educational activities in association with the Hungarian Patent Office, in the domain of the protection of industrial rights and the copyrights related knowledge, and operates information service points and lecturers at major events of the industry and the designers, that is, the Lakástrend and Design fair, the "FORMÁL" exhibition and conference, the Industria fair, the EU Trademark and Design Forum conference, and the Bútorvilág international furniture fair.
International relations
The ICSID - the international organization of industrial designers in which the HDC holds membership - held its general meeting and grand conference once again in Europe, in Hannover and Berlin after a long time. Participation offered an excellent opportunity to build personal professional relationships that promote an intensive dialogue, the exchange of publications and the planning of joint programs. As an adjunct event, the HDC organized the oh! Objects from Hungary exhibition presenting young Hungarian designers in the Collegium Hungaricum Berlin. The exhibition was also shown later in Budapest as part of the Month of Architecture.
Main Projects
Hungarian Design Awards
The former Industrial Design Award was reformed both in its name and its image in 2003. Even though the old award was established in 1977 for the purpose of drawing the attention of the players of the economy to the value-creating potential of industrial design, it became quickly evident that the objectives of the former award were not compatible with the professional challenges of the 21st century. The Hungarian Design Award, however, conveys an approach which fully recognizes the economic importance of design, and is capable of raising awareness of the ever increasing role of design in improving competitiveness, since due to the unprecedented rise in the standards of technology the customer's choice between products on the market is now influenced mainly by design. Design plays a key role in the most recent form of the consumer society, which is most linked to the phenomenon of experience economy. Under these circumstances it was a logical move to add visual communications to the award categories. It was also the result of a modern decision that the concept and student categories have been added, as work of the youth and designer concepts worked out only in the form of plans should be regarded as unrivalled sources of innovation. The increased popularity of the reformed and up-to-date award has proven the direction taken in the reforms, as many times more applications have been submitted for the contents compared to the figures of the past years - 260 altogether. After the first round 90 applications in the product category, 18 in the visual communication category, 26 in the plan category, 44 in the student creations category, that is, a total of 130 applications qualified for the second round. In the second round the board of examiners led by Professor Stefan Lengyel proposed 14 submissions for being granted an award, and all in all 47 submission for being exhibited. 8 awards were granted by the Ministry of Economy and Transport, another 3 special awards were granted jointly by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage and the Hungarian Patent Office. The award ceremony was held in the Museum of Industrial Arts, and the objects were exhibited in the Museum between December 9 and January 4. A bi-lingual catalogue was also published about the exhibition. The Hungarian Design Award was granted to Dániel Standeisky, Hajnalka Czákli and Júlia Néma in the Product category; to Tamás Marcell, Buda Varga and Benedek Balás Benedek in the Visual Communication category; to Csaba Szilágyi G., Tamás Hurton and the Medence Group in the Concept category; to Gergely Hosszú, Zsuzsanna Szentirmay, Noémi Dorka, Orsolya Kurucz, János Stunya and Csaba Wittinger in the Student category. Special Prizes were awarded to G., Tamás Hurton, the Medence Group, Zsuzsanna Szentirmay, Noémi Dorka, Orsolya Kurucz, János Stunya and Csaba Wittinger.
László Moholy-Nagy Design Grant
The grant was founded in 1988 by three ministries with the aim of promoting young designers in this way at the beginning of their career to stay and prosper in this profession. All designers who are not older than 35, completed higher education and pursue an independent and well-established professional program are eligible to apply. The grant is currently financed by the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of National Cultural Heritage, and the Hungarian Patent Office jointly, and coordinated by the Hungarian Design Council.
The "Moholy" - as usually referred to by its popular short name - is the most important Hungarian scheme for supporting talented young designers, and its annual exhibition has been ranked for some time among the key design events of the year. In the spirit of the motto for the grant program applications are characterized, especially recently, by a particular emphasis on social sensitivity and efforts to gain knowledge about ecology and human ecology. In accordance with the traditions of László Moholy-Nagy, the grant, as it is financed from public funds, gives a natural preference to designs that are ready to serve social needs, and at the same time, it provides a true overview of the current peculiar condition of the Hungarian industry and trade.
New grants in 2003
Zsanett HEGEDŰS
Introducing metallized textiles in our everyday life
Orsolya KARA
Paper toys developing manual skills for multiple age groups to improve reality modelling and abstraction capabilities - animal masks to be put together using paper bags
László Attila MÁRTON
The influence of water on the shaping of objects and spaces in the Hungarian bath culture.
Designing water toys for children.
Júlia NÉMA
Development of an extruded architectural ceramic system, heated sitting furniture and architectural elements in baths and in spaces used for community activities
Balázs PÜSPÖK
Development program of the LED lamp family up to prototype creation
Dániel STANDEISKY
Creation of the object world for the National Tree and Forest Research Program, experiments to create outdoor and indoor objects, and to develop the elements needed for them.
Edit SZABÓ
Acoustic diffuse covering systems. 2. Plastic coverings that increase the calorific value
Calendar of Events
February 8 The first meeting of the HDC.
February 18 Exhibition of the thirty best entries of the student competition for the logo of the HDC.
April 1 - 27, Exhibition of the Moholy-Nagy László Design Grant in the Museum of Applied Arts.
May 10 A presentation was organized by the HDC and held by lecturers from the Hungarian Patent
Office about the protection of intellectual properties as part of the "FORMAL" exhibition and
conference organized by the Kocka Design Group.
May 29 Second meeting of the HDC.
June 26 The HDC grants a special award to Hedvig Harmati at the I. Textiltriennalé.
July 3 The HDC grants life-work award to István Németh at the Hol tartunk? (How do we progress?)
exhibition organized by the Interior Decoration Section of the Hungarian Chamber of Architects.
September 10 - 24 A delegation from the HDC attends the General Assembly and the Conference of
ICSID, and opens an exhibition with the title oh! Objects from Hungary in the Collegium Hungaricum in
Berlin as an accompanying event. The exhibition was also open from October 10 to 18 as part of the Month
of Architecture in Budapest.
September 8 - 13 The study visit of the Moholy-Nagy László grant grantees to Berlin
October 6 The HDC grants a special award called FORMareFORM for the most inventive interior design
to Ivánka Design at the Contemporary Hungarian Furniture Exhibition.
October 13 - 14 A delegation from HDC attends the EU Trademark and Design Forum conference in
Budapest and exhibition organized by the Hungarian Patent Office and the Office for Harmonization in the
Internal Market of the European Union (OHIM).
October 16 The third meeting of the HDC.
December 9 Award ceremony of the Hungarian Design Award in the Museum of Industrial Arts.
December 10 Reporting meeting of the HDC.
Exhibition of the Hungarian Design Award opens in the Museum of Applied Arts.