On the dot design

Volvo Trucks’ new FH wowed a panel of design experts and beat thousands of international products, to win a red dot award for product design – an internationally recognised quality label for outstanding design achievement.

The red dot awards: product design 2013, honour outstanding industrial design, and celebrate the team behind the concept. This year 4 662 products, in 19 categories, were entered by manufacturers, designers and architects from 54 countries worldwide. The new Volvo FH was awarded the prestigious prize in category 16: automotive and transportation.

Rikard Orell, design director at Volvo Trucks, says that the company is extremely proud to win such a highly respected award from one of the largest, most distinguished design competitions in the world. “This award symbolises several years of hard work and is a tribute to the creativity and innovative spirit we have at Volvo Trucks,” he adds. “A great deal of emphasis was placed on the design and emotional aspect of the new FH – something that isn’t usually given high priority in commercial vehicle design.”

Professor Peter Zec, initiator and CEO of the red dot awards, explains that strong design competence and economic success go hand-in-hand nowadays. “The winners of the ‘red dot award: product design 2013’, are the protagonists of a highly developed design culture and design industry.”

He adds that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between well-designed products. “It is often only in the details that the special qualities become apparent. However, those product creations that pass the test, before the critical eyes of the international red dot jury, will not disappear into the crowd and will be able to fend off global competition.”

More than 1 000 guests from the world of design, industry, politics and media will celebrate the red dot award winners in Germany on July 1, at the Aalto Theatre – Essen’s opera house.

The new Volvo FH will be represented at a four-week special exhibition in the red dot design museum, situated at the world heritage site of the Zeche Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen, along with the other prize-winning products, from July 2 to 28.

Thereafter, the winning entries will be integrated into the permanent exhibition at the museum, for a minimum of one year. The museum houses the largest permanent contemporary design exhibition globally.