Karsten Willmann //Product Design - ausgezeichnetes Design im Bereich Konsum- und Investitionsgüter

VITA. Born near Hamburg (1978, Germany), I graduated with a Diploma in Product Design from the University of Applied Science Dresden (2008). Several six-month interns at Neumeister+Partner (Alexander Neumeister) or MA-design (Michael Arpe) accessorily shaped my approach. During study I worked as a student assistent at the University's department of design. Prior to that, I completed a 3 year apprenticeship as a cabinetmaker (furniture) in order to gain practical experience.

Post-graduate, I was a scholarship holder at Designlabor Bremerhaven - International Design Institute. There I worked within an interdisciplinary team of Graphic Designers, Product Designers, Architects and Sociologists to prepare a best practice study on unoccupied shop premises on behalf of the city of Bremen and the german ministry of urban development.

Currently I work as an Product Designer at one of the german global player for household appliance located in Munich.

RESPONSIBILITIES. My major responsibilities are innovative designs, concepts and visions for a wide range of products from the field of capital goods just as consumer products. My special interest goes to tangible interaction and the linked topic of (HMI) Human-Maschine-Interaction.

NETWORK. As an impassioned teamplayer, I work in consistent connection to a strong network of experts in the fields of product design, material research, architecture, communication design, engineering, typography, moving image, photography and many more.

AWARDS. Already during my study I was honoured for prominent achievement and won several international and national design awards including the most respected Braunprize internatinal "finalist 2009", a red dot concept award "best of the best", an iF concept award, a red dot communication design; I was one of the "finalists" at the James Dyson Award 2009, get a special mention at the german Mia Seeger award and the VDA international design award.

BraunPrize international 2009
"finalist"

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. It is the most important design award for young professionals in the world!

2009 there were a new record of 1074 submitted entries of 54 nations. For the jury of well-known Designexperts it was hard work to select the four finalists within three rounds of judging. Finally these four lucky guys have to present their projects in front of an international audience of 160 designexperts out of 16 nations (the Braunprize forum of 2009). Subsequent, they vote the overall winner of the Braunprize.

Red-dot award concept 2008
"best of the best", category: protection

The red dot design award is one of the most prestigious international design competitions. In 2008 there have been 1.906 entries from 52 countries in the world. With the award "red dot: best of the best" for the highest design quality, expressing innovation in form of function in an exemplary manner, Skylino gets on of the 20 highest honours!

iF concept award 2009
"honourable mention", category: time to market

More than 3,200 entries from 1,840 participants from 39 countries have been submitted in the year 2009. Thereby the iF concept award belongs to the biggest design awards in the world! Together with the project-team of scholarship, we achieved on of the few honoured prizes!

Red-dot award
communication design 2009
"winner"

More than 6,112 entries from 42 countries have been submitted in the year 2009. Together with the project-team of scholarship, we achieved on of the coveted awards!

James Dyson Award 2009
"finalist"

The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. It’s run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson’s charitable trust, as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering. 2009 there were more than 420 entries from 21 countries from around the world!

Mia Seeger Prize 2008
"highly commended"

Undergraduate dissertations from 2006 to 2008 are eligible for entry. Apart from the usual design criteria, the decisive benchmark when assessing the studies submitted is their social utility.

VDA Design Award 2006
"highly commended"

"Future Road 2020" was the topic of the competition invitation by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA - Verband der Automobilindustrie) and the German Design Council (Rat für Formgebung).