Braun GmbH once again invites young industrial designers to enter the biennial BraunPrize competition which begins in March 2004. The winner will be announced in September 2005 at a special event which will mark the 15th edition of this highly respected competition.

International competition to promote young designers

When it was established in 1968, the BraunPrize was Germany's first international competition to promote the work of young designers. Braun's commitment to this cause has been highly regarded by the design world and the design-aware public ever since. In sponsoring the BraunPrize, Braun seeks to highlight the importance of industrial design and innovative products and to promote ideas for consumer items which help people in all aspects of their daily lives.

The objective of the BraunPrize

The BraunPrize seeks to promote the work of young designers from all over the world, to recognise the work of design schools and to help develop a greater appreciation of the factors and criteria which make for good product design. Furthermore, it serves to make
the ingenuity and creativity of young designers accessible to the public and to provide a link between young designers and industry
or potential clients.

Prize money

The total prize money amounts to € 30,000. The winner of the BraunPrize will receive € 12,000 in prize money or a (paid) six-months
internship in the Design Department at Braun. Another € 12,000 of prize money will be shared by the other finalists. Additionally this
time three recognition prizes of € 2,000 will be awarded.

BraunPrize Exhibition

The best entries will be presented in the travelling BraunPrize Exhibition and will also be published in the international press and on the internet. The travelling exhibition seeks to provide an insight into current trends in design and design training around the world.

Call for entries

Participants are free to choose any subject for their product concepts. The BraunPrize has always been entirely independent of the
Braun product range and is not restricted to products from the consumer goods sector. The product concepts submitted should represent real innovations in design and technology which have been developed with users'
needs in mind and which help them in their everyday lives - in the home, at work or school, during sports and leisure activities or in the context of health and personal care.

Assessment criteria

The jury assesses all the product concepts in accordance with the following criteria:
- Design - innovation, aesthetics, clarity, ergonomics
- Technology - how convincing is the product functionality?
- Usability - the benefit which the product provides for the user
People must be seen to be both the starting point for the product concept and the focus of its realisation.

The following additional factors are also taken into account during the assessment process:
- The clarity of the content
- The quality of the presentation and the design models
- A thorough analysis of the assumptions on which the product is based
- The feasibility of the concept with regard to processes and costs
- The social acceptance of the product idea
- The environmental compatibility of the product concept
As the best projects will be shown in the exhibition, the quality of the design model is as important as the clarity of the presentation and the way in which it is delivered. Along with the quality of the design, innovation and practical usability are prerequisites for a successful entry. In addition to innovative ideas, intelligent redesign concepts are also welcome.
Please note that software and media design concepts are excluded from the scope of the competition.

Jury
Peter Schneider
Director Corporate Design, Braun

Rainer Silbernagel
Director New Product and Project Engineering, Braun

Alessandra Vasile
Architect, Milan

Gianfranco Zaccai
President and CEO, Design Continuum
Boston, Milan and Seoul

Judging

It is part of the tradition of the BraunPrize that all the members of the international jury consider, discuss and assess the entries with the greatest care. In order to be able to do this effectively, the jury has only a small number of members who devote a total of 6 days to the judging process which is divided into three stages.

In the first stage, the 4 jury members assess the projects on the basis of design sketches, photographs of the design model, technical drawings and a project description. About 40-50 entries will be selected for the second stage.

The design models are requested for the second stage of judging, during which the jury selects the finalists who will be invited to the BraunPrize Forum where the overall winner will be elected. It is also at the second stage that additional outstanding projects are selected for inclusion in the BraunPrize Exhibition.

In the third stage, which takes place at the BraunPrize Forum, the finalists present their projects to an invited audience made up of representatives from the design sector as well as figures from the worlds of industry, technology and the media with a special interest in the field of design. The overall winner of the 2005 BraunPrize will be selected on the basis of the votes cast by the guest jurors attending the Forum.

Forum and Award ceremony

The design competition concludes with the BraunPrize Event which consists of a Workshop, the BraunPrize Forum and the Award Ceremony. The Workshop provides an opportunity for the finalists to prepare their presentations. The BraunPrize Forum is part of the judging process; it is here that the overall winner is elected.

Everyone who is interested in the BraunPrize competition and its result is invited to the subsequent Award Ceremony which is followed by the opening of the BraunPrize Exhibition.

Entry conditions

We welcome all industrial designers world-wide, who are still studying, or who completed their studies after March 8, 2002.

Entry documents for the first round of the competition may be submitted by post, courier, or by using the online upload facility on the BraunPrize web site. Please note that a physical design model will have to be submitted by participants who are selected for the second round.

Postal entries:

The entry must comprise the following elements:
- The entry form, completed and signed (see attachment)
- Design sketches, photos of the design model and technical drawings. Project descriptions should be in English if possible. Videos and animations will only be considered as supplementary material.
- A summary of the project description in English (approx. 300 words) which clearly describes the concept and the innovative character of the project.  The name of the entrant must not appear on any of the items submitted, the only exception being the entry form. However, project names - such as 'modio', 'ct-loop' (see the 2003 BraunPrize) - are permitted on all elements and are a helpful feature. In order to ensure complete anonymity, projects are only identified by a number throughout the entire competition.

Submitting entries using the online upload function:

If you wish to use the online upload function to submit digital documents, please follow the instructions at www.braunprize.com. When choosing file formats, please note that all documents submitted digitally by online upload will be printed out in premium quality before they are submitted to the jury.

Intellectual property rights

Participants are responsible for applying for legal protection for intellectual property. Commercial rights to the designs must not have been transferred to a third party at the time that they are entered for the competition. The copyright and right of use belong to the participant. The legal regulations governing intellectual property rights shall apply. The documents submitted will be treated in confidence. By signing the entry form, participants declare their acceptance of the entry conditions and that they own the copyright for the project submitted.

They also consent
- to the publication of material associated with the project submitted and with the persons involved,
- to making the design model available to Braun (if their project is selected for the BraunPrize Exhibition) for the duration of the period during which it is required for the travelling exhibition. This period shall not exceed 6 months from the date of the Award Ceremony.

Closing date:January 31, 2005

All the documents for the first stage must have reached Braun by January 31, 2005. Designs must not have received an award in any other competition at the time that they are entered for the BraunPrize.

Address

Please send your entry documents in an envelope marked 'BraunPrize' to:
Braun GmbH
Frankfurter Straße 145
D-61476 Kronberg
Further information and details can be found on the internet at www.braunprize.com.
Competition documents and the entry form can also be downloaded from the site.
If you have any questions about the competition or wish to order the competition documents, please send an e-mail to:
info@braunprize.com
We will also be happy to answer any questions you may have if you call the BraunPrize Hotline on: +49 6173 30 -22 66.