Training Opportunities
Design Report
This magazine’s website offers an online search function for design colleges and academies as well as job offers and job-wanted ads.
designlinks.de
A detailed online directory of German universities with information on their training focus; listed according to Bundesländer. It also offers a link list on the theme of design.
Events, Festivals and Trade Fairs
Blickfang (i.e. eye-catcher), Stuttgart
Trade fair for fashion, furnishings, jewellery and lighting design
Designers Open Leipzig
The young German design scene never fails to come together in autumn for the Leipzig Designers Open. What was once a more-or-less local event has become a young, international meeting-place for creative designers, thanks to the fair’s close cooperation with the Grassi Museum of Applied Art (see below).
DMY International Design Festival Berlin
This festival is organised by DMY Berlin, once the young people of the predecessor festival Designmai, and takes place each year in spring. Young, celebrated creative designers present the newest developments in contemporary design, and Berlin designers network with the international design scene.
Euromold, Frankfurt
An international trade fair for tool and mould construction, design and product development, focusing on industrial design.
Grassimesse, Leipzig
International fair for applied art and product design
IHM Privat International Crafts Trade Fair, Munich
An international crafts trade fair focusing on design at the IHM.
imm cologne, International Furniture Trade Fair, Cologne
An international furniture trade and communications platform; from leading-edge desiger furnishings to classical living space ambiente.
Tendence Lifestyle, Frankfurt
A trade fair encompassing the spectrum of lifestyle and its trends, divided into the areas of Modern Living, Emotion, Joy, Passion, and Function.
Trade Journals and Magazines
AGD Viertel (i.e. quarter) magazine
Magazine of the German designers’ umbrella organisation with current information on design and economic news.
arcade
Trade magazine on furnishings, lighting and decorative objects, reports on trade fairs and contemporary design.
Architektur und Wohnen (i.e architecture and living)
Magazine on architecture, design, interior architecture, decoration and garden design.
db deutsche bauzeitung (i.e. German construction magazine)
Apart from architecture and engineering, the db deutsche bauzeitung also writes on interior architecture and design.
Design + Design
Online edition of this trade magazine with information for design collectors.
design report
Magazine on design and architecture, with data bank search on design institutions, universities and academies, professional associations, museums, German and international trade magazines. Edited by: Rat für Formgebung (German Design Council).
Designlines – Online Magazine for Design
Information on the areas of product and interior design
form – The Making of Design
Since 1957, form has reported on themes and trends in the international design scene; with special focus on current developments in industrial design, graphics design and multi-media.
form + zweck
Magazine with articles on the history and theory of design.
Jitter – Magazin für Bildgestaltung
Magazine on illustration, comics, street art and cartoons
Kunsthandwerk & Design (i.e. handicrafts and design)
This magazine offers comprehensive reporting on national and international handicrafts and design trade fairs, exhibitions, artists and their works, actions by institutes and organisations, and announces competitions.
md moebel interior design (i.e. furnishings and interior design)
Presentation of exclusive designer models in all areas of interior decoration, special focus on furnishings and lighting.
novum – World of Graphic Design
The monthly international edition (German/English) presents outstanding works in the areas of graphics design, illustration, photo design, new media, corporate design, packaging, advertising, and typography. It also introduces novum – World of Graphic Design Newcomer and pinpoints current trends.
Page
Magazine for media design
Wohn!Design (i.e. Living! Design)
International magazine on architecture, living space and design.
Institutions
Berlin International Design Centre (Internationales Design Zentrum Berlin – IDZ)
Internationally oriented information platform on design. The IDZ sees itself as a service provider for everyone interested in design. Events, exhibitions, lectures, workshops.
Design Centres in Germany
Link list of the Berlin International Design Centre (Internationales Designzentrum Berlin – IDZ)
Designers’ Associations
Link list of important associations in Germany by designlinks.de
Deutscher Werkbund e. V. (i.e. German crafts association)
The Deutsche Werkbund e. V. was founded in 1907 by architects, artists and politicians, and is an authority on aesthetics and technical norms in Germany. Links to nine regional Werkbund centres.
Professional Associations
Link list of the Berlin International Design Centre (Internationales Designzentrum Berlin – IDZ)
Rat für Formgebung – German Design Council
An expertise centre for communication and knowledge transfer in the area of design, founded in1953. Exhibitions, conferences, competitions, consulting and information.
Museums
August Kestner Museum, Hannover
With its own department of design, this museum presents objects of formal and ceremonial usage from Europe as a whole from the Middle Ages to the present.
Baden State Museum (Museum at the Market Square), Karlsruhe
Applied arts from 1900 to the present on 1,600 m² of exhibition space, an important Art Nouveau collection.
Bauhaus Archive, Museum of Design, Berlin
History and influence of the Bauhaus (1913–1933). An important school of 20th century architecture, design and art. A comprehensive collection documenting the school’s history and all aspects of its work.
Bauhaus Dessau ( Bauhaus Dessau Foundation), Dessau
The history of and works by the Bauhaus artists are presented in Walter Gropius’ Bauhaus Academy. The Masters’ Houses are nearby. Part of UNESCO’s World Cultural heritage since 1996.
Bauhaus Museum (Foundation of Weimar Classics), Weimar
The Bauhaus Museum has one of the world’s largest Bauhaus collections, displays about 500 representative works, and provides insights into the art and development of art schools in Weimar from 1919–1925.
BMW Museum, Munich
The firm’s museum offers insights into the history and process of BMW design, among other things.
BraunCollection, Kronberg
The Braun GmbH’s collection in Kronberg, Taunus, conveys the history of this manufacturer of electric household appliances with respect to technology and design in a permanent exhibition. Alternating exhibitions illustrate individual aspects.
Bröhan Museum, State Museum, Berlin
Internationally oriented museum specialising in the epoch of Art Nouveau, Art Déco and Functionalism (1889–1939).
Die Neue Sammlung – The International Design Museum Munich
Internationally oriented covering the period from 1900 to the present. With over 70,000 objects from the areas of industrial design, graphics design, photography and arts and crafts, Die Neue Sammlung – The International Design Museum Munich is one of the world’s leading museums of 20th century applied art. Permanent and temporary exhibitions in the Pinakothek der Moderne (i.e. museum of modern art) in Munich, in the Neues Museum – Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design (i.e new museum – state museum of art and design) – in Nuremberg as well as in Weiden.
Dornier Museum, Friedrichshafen
The museum, opened in summer 2009, is devoted to the history of the former family-owned and -run Dornier enterprise and aeronautics. Models of the famous Dornier airplanes offer insights into the development stages of airplane construction and design.
Germanic National Museum (Germanisches Nationalmuseum), Nuremberg
Important collections in the areas of textiles, jewellery, advertising and design. Focus on the Middle Ages.
Industrial Design Collection, Berlin
The collection encompasses objects of everyday life and design objects from the DDR/SBZ. The collection with its approx.160,000 objects, books and photos has belonged to the Haus der Geschichte Foundation since 2005. The collection is presently only open for research purposes.
Kragstuhlmuseum/TECTA-Archives, Lauenförde
The Kragstuhl Collection of the furniture company Tecta, located in Lower Saxony, documents the development of the “chair with no back legs” to its final form as the “free-swinging” chair.
MARTa Herford
MARTa Herford is a forum for young and contemporary creative work which seeks to investigate the close and complex relationships between art, design, architecture and industry. The collection, under development since 2001, makes reference to the museum’s special orientation.
Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart
The company museum offers insights into the history of Mercedes-Benz automobile development and design on the basis of personal, racing and record-breaker cars. Alternating exhibitions offer in-depth treatments of this history.
Miele Museum, Gütersloh
The museum of the household appliance manufacturer Miele presents the history of the company and its products within the context of overall developments in society.
museum kunst palast (i.e. museum art palace), Düsseldorf
European painting and sculpture from the Middle Ages to the present. The museum also offers comprehensive collections of arts and crafts, glass arts, design and art of the 20th century as well as a graphics collection.
Museum of Applied Arts – Grassi Museum (Museum für angewandte Kunst – Grassimuseum), Leipzig
European and non-European arts and crafts from their beginnings to the present. Collection focus: objects from the 1920’s and 1930’s and ceramics from the second half of the 20th century. Following a comprehensive remodelling of the entire museum complex, all collections are being reopened until 2010. Starting in 2010, the collection “From Art Nouveau to the Present” will conclude the programme.
Museum of Applied Arts (Museum für Angewandte Kunst), Cologne
Art from the Middle Ages to the immediate present and a high-profile design collection starting in 1900.
Museum of Applied Arts (Museum für Angewandte Kunst), Frankfurt am Main
With over 30,000 exhibit objects. East Asian, Islamic and European art, book arts, arts and crafts and applied graphics from the Middle Ages to the present.
Museum of Arts and Crafts (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe), Hamburg
The collection Fashion and Textiles encompasses about 60,000 objects, from ancient Egyptian grave goods to pieces by Yves Saint Laurent, Wolfgang Joop and Issey Miyake. Extensive textile and embroidery collection, changing special exhibitions.
Museum of Decorative Arts, Berlin
The museum offers an important collection of European applied arts and has two locations: the Cultural Forum and Castle Köpenick. It presents the applied arts from the Middle Ages to the present.
Museum of Decorative Arts, (Dresden State Art Collections), Dresden
History of arts and crafts up to and including modern industrial design. Specialising in: Dresden Art Nouveau, machine-made furniture by the German workshops of Hellerau.
Museum of Things (Museum der Dinge), Werkbund Archive, Berlin
This museum – with its core “Archive of the German Werkbund” – presents the results of German industrial mass production.
Museum Thonet, Frankenberg
The museum of the Hessian furniture manufacturer Thonet presents a collection of bent wood furniture from the 19th century to the present. 150 years ago, the company founder Michael Thonet revolutionised the furniture trade with the production method of the Coffee House Chair No. 14.
Neues Museum – Staatliches Museum für Kunst und Design (i.e. New Museum – State Museum of Art and Design), Nuremberg
An international museum of contemporary art, with two collection areas: design (from the collections of the Munich Neue Sammlung – see above) and international contemporary art. The design collection is being continually expanded.
PAN Kunstforum Niederrhein, Kunst- und Designmuseum (i.e. PAN art forum Lower Rhine, museum of art and design), Emmerich
The Kunstforum is interdisciplinary in its conception and focuses on poster art, and also on painting, sculpture, installations, video new media and performance.
Porsche Museum, Stuttgart
Approximately 80 vehicles and numerous mini-exhibits in this auto manufacturer’s museum provide insights into the history of the company and its products. Special exhibitions offer in-depth treatment of individual aspects.
red dot Collection North Rhine-Westphalia
An exhibition of contemporary international design products that have been awarded the red dot award, on 4,000 m² of exhibition space.
Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
A private cultural institution, active world-wide. The museum offers changing special exhibitions, researches and imparts design in its many and varied expressions: focus on furnishings and interior design. Also offers an archive and a specialised library.
Volkswagen AutoMuseum, Wolfsburg
The company museum is devoted to all products of this brand as well as unique exemplars and prototypes. Special exhibitions contribute to making a part of German automobile history accessible.
Networks/Online portals
Berlin Design-Blog
Up-to-date blog focusing on Berlin, providing articles on exhibitions in Berlin and competitions throughout Germany. In addition interviews and tips on events that may well be a bit off the beaten track of design.
Create Berlin
The network Create Berlin views itself as a meeting place for creative designers and their projects and ideas in Germany’s capital. Its Berlin office and showroom is an interface for design, press and politics. Create Berlin also curates and organises projects originating in Berlin internationally.
Designerinaction
Info page for creative designers, with news from the areas of design, typography, photography, paper and printing.
Designlinks
designlinks.de offers an extensive editorial collection on the themes of graphics design, design theory, competitions and much more. Clearly arranged links to competitions and training options, magazines, universities and academies, and professional associations on the themes of web design, graphics and screen design.
Designspotter
Internationally oriented blog from Cologne informing readers daily about new works, trends and visions in the design world. Designers introduced are presented and are given a type of profile in which additional information is indicated.
Designwissen
Designwissen is an information data bank aimed at educators, school children, students and interested persons. It offers texts, images and videos on varios aspects of design, with primary focus on teaching design in schools.
DMY Berlin
An interdisciplinary design platform promoting exchange among designers and artists. DMY Berlin organises the annual International Design Festival in Berlin and represents the German capital throughout the year as the “City of Design” (UNESCO) through its exhibition projects.
Competitions
Allianz deutscher Designer (i.e. alliance of German Designers – AGD)
The Allianz deutscher Designer (AGD) presents major German design competitions.
Designer in Action
The online service Designer in Action also offers links to smaller competitions, trade fairs and events (see above).
Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (i.e Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany)
The Design Award is the Federal Republic of Germany’s highest official design award, that is offered by the Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology. Under the title, Designpreis der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, the prize has been awarded annually starting in 2006 for outstanding achievements in the areas of product and communications design as well as to a design personality.
DP3D – German award for 3-dimensionality
DP3D is awarded for successful transfers between a brand‘s identity and brand design regarding products and spatial representation.
form – the Making of Design
form, one of the most important magazines for design, offers a survey of competitions under the heading „Competitions.“
iF product design award and communication design award
This prize is awarded annually in the categories of “Communication Design” and “Product Design”.
inspired by cologne
Exhibition and award for the most talented young designers at the Internationale Möbelmesse imm (i.e. international furnishings trade fair) in Cologne.
Interior Innovation Award
Competition for ideas and design for interior walls.
International Design Award, Baden-Württemberg
Awarded annually to manufacturers and designers for pioneering and professional design ideas.
Lucky Strike Designer Awards
Junior Design Award for young talent and established designers.
:output
International competition for students of visual communication.
red dot design award
The red dot design award is an international competition whose logo, the red dot, serves as a symbol of good design. The competition is awarded in three categories: product design, communications design and design concept (annually in Singapore since 2005).
