About the year 2009
Competition
The jury, chaired by Patrick Reymond, awarded 17 prizes in all out of a total of 239 participating designers in the two-stage Swiss Federal Design Competition 2009. This year, the competition went online for the first time. After almost a century of hard-copy portfolio submissions, the application process has now been brought into line with the latest technological developments, making the most of the resources available and substantially simplifying the logistics. The changeover has proved a success, attracting a higher than average number of submissions. Participants were invited to upload their portfolios onto the Swiss Arts Council competition site. One of the main advantages of this new process has been that it has given the jury members the opportunity of studying the submissions in depth at their own computers. Meeting in person to discuss and debate the merits of the individual works, however, still remains the most important part of the jury's decision-making process. In the second round, as ever, the jury bases its decisions on an appraisal of the originals.
The judging criteria are broad: functionality, usefulness/use value, aesthetics, manufacturing and production techniques, appropriate choice of materials (colour/material/finish), ecology/energy rating, price, rational and emotional appeal, future/trend. The relative importance attached to any one of these criteria is at the discretion of the jury. Now it is the turn of the readers of this catalogue and visitors to the exhibition to make up their own minds about the award-winning works.
The winners can choose between a monetary grant of 25,000 Swiss francs, a six-month studio residence in London or New York or a six-month internship abroad. This year, internships are being offered in London not only with such renowned design companies as Graphic Thought Facility (graphic design), Abäke (graphic design) and Peter Jensen (fashion design), but also with innovative figures in the world of art and design, including Martino Gamper (furniture and product design/art) and Julia Lohmann with Gero Grundmann (furniture and product design/art). For the past seven years, the winners have been given the option of choosing the prize that is best suited to their aims, and have made excellent use of the opportunities offered. Well over half of this year's winners have chosen a studio residence or an internship.
This year's catalogue is designed for the third and last time by Bonbon (Diego Bontognali and Valeria Bonin) of Zurich; it is also the last of the 'Lexicon and Encyclopedia' themed editions in the series of Swiss Federal Design Grant catalogues. Over the past three years, this theme has been translated into graphic design with devoted attention to detail, historic flair, open-minded curiosity and meticulous research.
In this edition, the information and illustrations pertaining to each of the individual winners or winning groups has been bundled into separate four- to six-page sections, providing readers with a concentrated and in-depth treatment of the award-winning works and the circumstances surrounding them. An important aspect in this is the photographic concept developed in collaboration with Romain Rousset and Geoffrey Cottenceau. The boundary between auteur photography and the winners' own photographs has been deliberately blurred. The aim is to give insight into the highly idiosyncratic and singular world that informs the work of each winner - work that is generated by external circumstances and nurtured by personal vision.
The catalogue has been published to accompany the Swiss Federal Design Grants 2009 exhibition, which is being held this year in the mudac, Lausanne. The scenographic design, developed by the renowned Alexis Georgacopoulos, is based on that most fundamental and originary form of exhibition: framing. Using the minimal device of a simple wooden frame, the award-winning objects are presented in richly varied modular forms. This places the focus firmly on the award-winning objects themselves.
