SHERIDAN, WYOMING – October 17, 2024 – ORGATEC is introducing the #BlindDate project this year, collaborating with the Danish Design Makers (DDM) alliance and consultancy firm Målbar. The goal of this unique design challenge is to encourage creative processes without any preconceived notions and prioritize sustainability in design.
Think of a "blind date," but instead of finding a romantic partner, you're seeking a potential business collaborator. This is the idea behind the #BlindDate project at ORGATEC 2024, which aims to connect businesses and creative professionals in an unconventional way. Twenty European design brands were asked to provide anonymous briefs on the theme of "reduction." The designers, whose identities were also kept secret, were then randomly assigned these briefs. They had six months to create a prototype based on the brief.
These completed designs will be showcased at the #BlindDate pavilion in Hall 4.2 of the Cologne fairgrounds at 4:00 PM on October 22nd, 2024, the opening day of ORGATEC. This is also when the identities of the designers who participated in the competition will be revealed.
"We're excited about this professional and social experiment and believe it will spark a meaningful conversation between creative professionals and manufacturers," says DDM co-founder and board member Antonio Scaffidi. "By focusing on reduction, we want to challenge the current norms and explore the importance of good design in the future."
A New Format to Challenge Preconceptions
What makes this competition special is that everyone involved remains anonymous throughout the entire process. This new approach eliminates any preconceived notions or biases from both the companies and designers, ensuring that the focus remains solely on the design's form and function.
"With the #BlindDate project, ORGATEC is promoting creativity and resource efficiency while strengthening the connection between companies and creative professionals. In collaboration with Danish Design Makers and Målbar, we're creating a platform where innovative ideas can thrive without being limited by preconceptions," says Thomas Postert, Director of ORGATEC, explaining the new format.
Reduction for Enhanced Sustainability
The design challenge centers around the current issues facing the interior design industry: overuse of resources, increasing carbon emissions, and the ongoing upward trend in consumption. Despite a growing awareness of global environmental problems, there's been minimal progress toward achieving a sustainable future. To protect both present and future generations, collective action is needed across society to ensure that resource use doesn't exceed the Earth's limits.
This is where the #BlindDate project comes in. It makes "reduction" the core theme of the design challenge, linking it to resource efficiency, renewable energy, environmental protection, the circular economy, behavioral change, and innovation. The aim is to create sustainable solutions for the future and explore new possibilities in design.
Danish Design Makers
Throughout this process, the participating designers have the support of Danish Design Makers. Through workshops, collaborative creative processes, and expert knowledge, the goal is to develop new ideas that minimize resource use.
Danish Design Makers is an alliance of renowned designers who share a strong connection to Danish design culture. DDM has previously collaborated with imm cologne and undertaken a project at Neocon in Chicago. For over a decade, this initiative has been promoting innovation and critical dialogue in the design industry, making it the perfect partner for ORGATEC 2024.
Målbar
The development of the products outlined in the anonymous briefs is supported by a screening tool that calculates their carbon footprint. This tool was developed by the Danish consultancy firm Målbar, founded in 2020, to measure the environmental impact of products. This digital tool aligns with the new EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) standards and can calculate a product's footprint throughout its entire life cycle. Målbar also provides another tool that uses these findings to create detailed overviews of complete product portfolios and value chains. These reports can then be used to evaluate sustainability strategies and company goals based on actual data.