The AKG Inspired awards, designed to celebrate the power of inspiration, was won by David Wojcik, a student Product Designer from Germany, aged 25.
The awards asked creative people across Europe to share their work and the creative journey they took to get there. Entrants’ work was viewed and judged by a panel of influential experts, including British designer Lauren Davies, Swedish musician Julia Spada, German graphic designer Knut Maierhofer, and French publisher Romain Colin.
David’s winning entry saw him share his inspiration for the HEBIX – a prototype home care device that helps people who have fallen over. David has received a €5,000 grant and will be involved into the design of a special edition of the Y50 AKG headphone.
There were also four runners up announced:
Hakan Lidbo, a musician/design engineer based in Stockholm, shared the inspiration behind Big Beat – the world’s biggest collaborative giant drum machine.
Naming the Dead – created by Dan Osman who is a designer based in London – was inspired by the 176 British soldiers who lost their lives in the Iraq conflict.
Carl Thomas, an architect from London, shared his project, Mipic.co, which enables artists to share and sell their pictures to a global audience and earn money for free.
Old Bern – created by London-based architecture student Danny Lane – was based on the concept: In a future with no snow, how should ski resorts be designed?
Each runner up received a €1,000 Grant and will also be invited to provide creative input into future AKG headphones.
David Kohn, award-winning architect and head judge at the AKG Inspired Awards, said: “David Wojcik’s Hebix stood out for showing a clear design process: from the identification of a need, to research into what products are currently available, from measuring constraints to prototyping options. This gave the jury confidence that the Hebix will continue to develop and be of great benefit to its future users and that David has a bright design future ahead of him.”
“AKG has been helping creative souls find their inspiration through music for more than 65 years, and this award is the natural extension of this”, says Dorothee de Backer, Product Marketing Director, HARMAN. “The AKG Inspired Awards has allowed AKG to recognise creativity across Europe and we are very excited about this chance to support and reward the winning young creative talents by providing AKG grants.”
