Meet George Jetson - and design his appliances

17 March 2009

Meet George Jetson - and design his appliances

Young Kiwi industrial designers are being invited to let their futuristic imaginations run wild in the Electrolux Design Lab 2009 global design competition.

In the year that Electrolux is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a theme that has echoes of futuristic cartoon family the Jetsons, the brand is asking young designers from all over the world to create designs for the next 90 years.

The brief for the seventh edition of the global appliance leader's competition is to create thoughtfully designed home appliances that will shape how people prepare and store food, wash clothes, and do dishes over the next nine decades.

Their designs should address key consumer insights such as adapting to time and space, provide learning and allow for individualisation.

"We're looking for really daring ideas and solutions," says Henrik Otto, Senior Vice-President of Global Design at Electrolux, who explains more about the competition in his "Call for entries" video.

New Zealand product design students from Massey University, Victoria University and AUT as well as other independent design schools are eligible to enter the prestigious global competition.

Finalists will be invited to the final event in London September 24, 2009, to present their entries to a jury of high-level designers and experts. The jury will judge the entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight.

The winner will take home €5,000 and be offered a six-month paid internship at one of the Electrolux global design centres. The second prize is €3,000 and third prize €2,000.

"Working with young, talented designers provides inspiration for future products and solutions," adds Otto. "It also helps Electrolux spot the hottest, new talent out there."

Rosalie Davison of Electrolux New Zealand says such a forward-thinking design brief means students can give their imaginations free rein to create home appliances of the future.

"In the 1960s, Hanna-Barbera's creative minds came up with the prophetic ideas of video conferencing and robotic vacuum cleaners that at the time seemed space age but are reality today. This year's DesignLab students are likely to dream up equally exciting concepts for a world beyond our imagination," says Davison.

The entry deadline for Design Lab '09 is May 31, 2009. Students may enter one design via the Design Lab website at www.electrolux.com/design

ENDS

About Electrolux Design Lab
Established in 2003, Electrolux Design Lab is an annual global design competition open to undergraduate and graduate industrial design students who are invited to present innovative ideas for household appliances of the future. Previous Design Labs have received thousands of entries from students in more than 100 countries.

Design Lab has led directly to jobs and business opportunities in the design field for many of the contestants. Three finalists are currently employed in one of the Electrolux Global Design centres and last year's winner is doing his six-month internship. Others have gone on to found successful design businesses.

Last year's competition "Designs for the internet generation" was won by Stefan Buchberger from Vienna University of Applied Arts Austria with Flatshare, a modular fridge solution for shared living spaces.

Electrolux is a global leader in home appliances and appliances for professional use, selling more than 40 million products to customers in 150 countries every year. The company focuses on innovations that are thoughtfully designed, based on extensive consumer insight, to meet the real needs of consumers and professionals. Electrolux products include refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, vacuum cleaners and cookers sold under esteemed brands such as Electrolux, AEG-Electrolux, Eureka and Frigidaire. In 2007, Electrolux had sales of SEK 105 billion and 57,000 employees. For more information, visit http://www.electrolux.com/press.

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