Special guests of arena DESIGN 2009
Manfred Dorn
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| Manfred Dorn, Phoenix Design |
Manfred Dorn, Design Department Director at Phoenix Design in Stuttgart, one of Europe's leading design studios, will be a special guest at the "arena DESIGN 2009".
Manfred Dorn graduated with a degree in product design from the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart where he studied under the supervision of Prof. Richard Sapper and Prof. Klaus Lehmann. He worked with Michele de Lucchi and Carlo Forcolini studios in Milan, following which he became involved with Mercedes-Benz for many years. Manfred Dorn's responsibilities at Mercedes-Benz included Corporate Design and interior design. He also headed the User Interface Design Department for several years.
Since 2006, Manfred Dorn has been in charge of the Design Department at the Phoenix Design studio. Phoenix
Design employs now 27 staff. The outfit provides ongoing services to such brands as LG, Siemens, Sharp, Viessmann, Mexx, Duravit, Gira, Hansgrohe, Kaldewei and Loewe.
Phoenix Design owes its renown and strong market position to a unique design philosophy which Andreas Haug and Tom Schönherr, the firm's owners, define as an approach to life and environment. Among other things, this philosophy includes such elements as ethics, aesthetics, ergonomics, ecology or economics.
Phoenix Design's portfolio includes projects in brand design, design strategy, product design, user interface design, design consultancy and advanced design.
Under the studio's strategy product design is to reflect its image and market value, as well as meeting buyer needs and expectations. Phoenix Design's declared goal is to create products which are chosen because of their logic and timelessness, and which enrapture buyers to become bestsellers on domestic and international markets.
Tassilo von Grolman
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| Tassilo von Grolman Foto: Michael Ehrhart, Frankfurt |
Tassilo von Grolman, one of the most prominent contemporary German designers, owner of the renowned Tassilo von Grolman GmbH design studio, founder and honorary president of the DDC (German Designers Club) and chairman of the Hessen Design association, will be a special guest at the „arena DESIGN 2009" event.
His road to design was by no means a typical one: he first trained as a mechanic, then studied mechanical engineering and machine building. Only later did he study design in Kassel, and graduated from the university with an industrial designer degree. After being an assistant of Professor Arnold Bode, working at an architecture office and advertising agencies in Frankfurt (TBWA and Lürzer Conrad), he started his own design studio in 1975.
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Mono "Filio" |
Tassilo von Grolman GmbH specializes in product design, packaging design, creation of corporate identities and architectural design. The Tassilo von Grolman brand is associated with numerous acclaimed product designs, in particular in the top segment of table and kitchenware. One of the most recognizable products designed by Tassilo von Grolman is the Mono teapot (Mono-Teekanne).
Products by von Grolman are exhibited in design museums all over the world. They have also received many prestigious awards, including Design Plus (Messe Frankfurt), Red Dot Award (Designzentrum Nordrhein-Westfalen), Good Design Award (Chicago Athenaeum), silver and bronze DDC award (German Designers Club), Product of the Year title awarded by Fachverband Kunststoff-Konsumwaren and Kookgilde Niederlande, as well as ADC Art Directors Club Deutschland, European Regional Design Annual, IF Industrieforum Design Hannover and Unicef awards. There were many celebrated exhibitions devoted to the works of Tassilo von Grolman.
Apart from his design work, von Grolman is very active in institutions promoting industrial design. In 1990, he founded the DDC (German Designers Club) he presided over until 1997, and in 2004 accepted the title of an honorary president. Chairman of the Hessen Design association. In 2006, together with lawyers and designers, he founded the FIDIUS Faire Wettbewerbe association promoting level playing field in competitions and tenders for designers. He is also involved in teaching and collaborates with many universities of art and technology.
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| Mono "Cafino" Foto: Norbert Latocha, Frankfurt |
The motto of Tassilo von Grolman is „innovative ideas professionally carried out" (Innovativ im Denken, professionell im Handel).
