Frankfurt (Germany) - On 12 February 2010, the well-kept secret of who had won the Young Designer’s Prize for 2010 was revealed by presenter Barbara Hahlweg. Elisa Strozyk has won the award, worth EUR 8,000. Ms. Strozyk, who was born in Berlin in 1982, cheerfully accepted the prize. "I am very proud. All the more so, since textile designers are not often found as winners of the major prizes", said Strozyk. She succeeded against some strong competitors: Mark Braun, Fehling & Peiz GbR, Mathias Hahn and Matthias Ries were some of the finalists - and with good reason. They all have an impressive portfolio to show.

The jury assessed the young designers on the stylistic independence of their designs and their potential for development. In this process they set criteria such as quality of conception and design, technical and formal independence, symbolic and emotional content, and the presence of substantive innovation.


Above: Telephone bench

Elisa Strozyk scored well on all points. She says of her work: "I question everyday normality, re-interpret it, put what is familiar into a new context." Strozyk follows this classical approach to design consistently. She studied textile and surface design at Berlin-Weissensee Polytechnic of the Arts and in 2009 took a Master's degree in Future Textiles at Central St. Martin’s College London. During her degree course she began to experiment with wood, and from this she has developed her current project, "wooden textiles." In this project she makes two diametrical components, wood and textiles, come together, showing that this combination is both aesthetic and convenient.


Above: Paper weaves

Through this award the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and the German Design Council aim to encourage young designers during the stage following their training. "Good design is, and will remain, a vital business factor. So if we are to remain competitive in future and to set standards, we need to support talented young people", says Andrej Kupetz, General Manager of the German Design Council. The Young Designer's Prize is a unique opportunity for the finalists, and particularly for the winner, to show themselves to a broad range of design-oriented companies, design practices, the press, and the government.

Jury
Award of the Young Designer's Prize is decided by the independent and expert jury, which is appointed by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, and which this year consisted of thefollowing: Mirko Borsche, Mirko Borsche practice; Achim Bölstler, head designer of WMF Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik AG; Johannes Erler, chairman of the management board of Factor Design AG; Dr. Jochen Hahne, managing director of Wilkhahn Wilkening + Hahne GmbH + Co. KG; Roland Heiler, managing director of Porsche Design GmbH; Robert Klanten, creative director of Die Gestalten Verlag GmbH + Co. KG; Philipp Mainzer, managing director of e15 Design und Distributions GmbH; Prof. Jochen Pläcking, managing director of kleinundpläcking group GmbH; Nicole Srock-Stanley, managing director of dan pearlman markenarchitektur GmbH; Moni Wolf, UX director, Device Strategy & Commercialisation Microsoft Mobile Communication Business

Chronology of the Design Award
The Design Award is the official design prize of the Federal Republic of Germany. It is run by the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. The idea of the prize came from the German Design Council, and it was first awarded in 1969. Even then, and until 1986, a young designer's prize was awarded annually. One of the first young designers to win this award was Hartmut Esslinger.

Over the last 40 years the Design Award has constantly developed further: since 1986 it has been presented in recognition of achievements in product and communication design, and a Celebrity Award has also been made. The Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany is also known as the "prize of prizes." The reason: no other design award requires its entrants to fulfil such strict qualifications. Thus a company can only enter the competition for the Design Award if its product has already been awarded a national or international prize.

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For more information, please contact:

Rat für Formgebung/German Design Council
Julia Kostial
t: +49 0 69 74 74 86 0
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About German Design Council

The German Design Council was founded in 1953 on the initiative of the German Parliament, in order to satisfy the growing need for information by industry on the subject of design. Today the German Design Council, also an Icsid member, is one of the world's leading centres of excellence for communication and transfer of expertise in design. Its patrons currently include 150 companies in Germany and abroad, which together employ more than 1.3 million people.