Essen/Germany, 6 June 2023

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From 20 June 2023, the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen will present not one but three new exhibitions featuring award-winning design highlights from all areas of life. With more than 1,500 products in total, the exhibitions “Milestones in Contemporary Design 2023–2024” and “Design on Stage 2023–2024” will give an overview of the state of the art in product design. Those two exhibitions will be on show until the end of May 2024. The third, special exhibition, created by this year’s Red Dot: Design Team of the Year to present the team and its work, will run until 20 August 2023. The winner of the title of honour will not be announced until 19 June 2023, the day of the award ceremony for the Red Dot Award: Product Design 2023.

A museum and an exploratorium – a slightly different type of museum

In the design museum in Essen, everything is slightly different from ‘normal’ museums. The entire exhibition changes once a year, after the selection of the winners of the Red Dot Award: Product Design, one of the most important international design competitions. Around 40 design experts convene in Essen once a year to decide which products will receive a distinction. They arrive at their decision after assessing the products and discussing them in detail. Those products are then presented in the Red Dot Design Museum for almost a year. Featuring roughly 1,500 products from all over the globe, the museum houses the world’s largest exhibition of contemporary design. Furthermore, many of the products exhibited can be touched and tried out. The museum has a special appeal, as the design products are displayed against a historical industrial backdrop, with the building making up part of the Zollverein UNESCO world heritage site.

Exhibition 1: “Milestones in Contemporary Design 2023–2024” – the best products of the year

The exhibition on the first floor of the museum presents the 91 best products of 2023 – the current milestones in international product design, which were selected by an international jury from the competition’s 51 categories. They fulfil the four qualities of good design: quality of function, of use, of seduction and of responsibility. These products set new standards in their respective industries and clearly stand out from the competition thanks to their design and power of innovation in respect of function and aesthetic.

The helix welding helmet by Swiss firm optrel is a good example of the quality of function. It is designed as a slide-up helmet, making it light, streamlined and safe. The welding helmet’s inner glare protection unit can simply be slid up and down, allowing the wearer to carry out welding, grinding or cutting work without having to change helmet. For its part, the Ottobock Shoulder exoskeleton is an example of high quality of use. It was developed by Ottobock from Duderstadt in collaboration with Technische Universität Dresden. It significantly reduces the strain on shoulder muscles and joints during overhead work. The product is easy to use and comfortable to wear, making it soon feel like an extension of the wearer’s own body. Crackle Vase XL Circular by Kosta Boda from Sweden, designed by the studio Åsa Jungnelius, exemplifies the quality of seduction. The vase’s distinctive surface is created using a traditional glass production technique, giving it a structure reminiscent of frosted ice and resulting in a particularly fascinating look. An example of just how special responsibly designed products can look is provided by the futuristic-looking electric moped SQi by Niu from China. It defines a new language of form and a new style for this type of electric mobility, thus contributing to the acceptance and further development of intelligent urban mobility.

Exhibition 2: “Design on Stage 2023–2024”

Spread over five floors, the exhibition “Design on Stage” gives visitors a comprehensive overview of current product design trends and developments. The exhibition is designed to give visitors the opportunity to familiarise themselves with some of the basics of good design, the ‘design fundamentals’, at the beginning of their visit. For example, on their tour of the ground floor of the museum, they come upon brief introductory texts and sample products that allow them to assess for themselves the products that they encounter during their visit.

Exhibition 3: Presentation by the Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2023

Since as far back as 1988, every year a design team is selected as part of the Red Dot Design Award to win the title of “Red Dot: Design Team of the Year” for consistently outstanding design achievements. Past winners include Studio F. A. Porsche, Apple, Hilti, adidas, Sony and – most recently – Philips. There is a long tradition of the design team creating its own special exhibition to feature at the Red Dot Design Museum, and this year is no different. The title winner will be announced at the award ceremony on 19 June 2023. The exhibition will run until 20 August 2023.

Red Dot Design Museum – Opening hours and entrance fees
Tuesdays – Sundays & public holidays: 11 am to 6 pm (last admittance: 5 pm)
Mondays: closed (except on public holidays and during school holidays in North Rhine-Westphalia)
Entrance fee for special exhibitions: EUR 9 (reduced rate: EUR 4)
Children under the age of 12: free
Fridays: pay what you want

Press contact

Astrid Ruta | Konzept. Text. Redaktion.
Phone: +49 201 84079533           
E-mail: museum(at)astridruta.de