FAD for good design

What is good design and which should be its role faced with the current challenges to humanity? During the Barcelona Design Week, we want to talk about good design.

On one hand, we will celebrate excellence by presenting prizes to the different disciplines of design and by staging its annual exhibition, «The Best Design of the Year».

On the other, we will be organizing a series of activities which, under the title of «Good Design is…», will reflect on the principles of good design today. Starting from Dieter Rams’ «10 Principles of Good Design», that have proven to be timeless and valid in any discipline, we invite you to join a series of activities, aimed both professionals and general public, to reflect on the principles of good design today.

«Good design is…»

In the seventies, Dieter Rams, unquestionably one of the most influential designers of the 20th century, stablished that:

1. Good design is innovative.
2. Good design makes a product useful.
3. Good design is aesthetic.
4. Good design makes a product comprehensible.
5. Good design is unobtrusive.
6. Good design is honest.
7. Good design is long-lasting.
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail.
9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
10. Good design is as little design as possible.

«Good design is…» Talks

Programme of conferences with prominent names such as Feminist Internet, Lolo & Sosaku, Chris Lefteri, Lievore + Altherr Désile Park, Apparatu, Lacol, Curro Claret, Harquitectes, Tina Gorjanc, Zak Group, Deutsche & Japaner, Maria ke Fisherman o Anne Lacaton. This last one, the chair of the jury of the International FAD Awards 2019, will be in charge of closing the session, which will feature debating spaces moderated by José Luis de Vicente.

Fashion, graphic design, advertising, architecture, interior design, product design, art, crafts… all the disciplines together in a session to discover national and international benchmark figures who will explain their projects, the principles and values they follow in their professional practice and their personal vision in today’s context on the 10 principles of Dieter Rams.

«Good design is…» Rams, film screening

A special screening of the documentary «Rams» by Gary Hustwit, who is also the director of films such as Helvetica, Objectified and Urbanized, in which he explored the impact of typography, industrial design and urban planning respectively. In «Rams», Hustwit focuses on an indispensable figure in the field of design: Dieter Rams, one of past century’s most influential designers.

«Good design is…» Family Day

If there is one function that was met by the «10 Principles of Good Design» it had to be the pedagogical one. Are you bold enough to explore them? Put it to the test in this family session, curated by Domestic Data Streamers, in which families will have the opportunity to reflect on the principles of Dieter Rams through an interactive experience. A space where both young and old can experiment on design and objects in a creative environment.

«The Best Design of the Year» and the awards

The FAD’s annual exhibition has become an unmissable event if one wishes to understand what is happening in the world of design, architecture, fashion and art today, with a selection of the best works produced in 2018.

«The Best Design of the Year» is the indispensable exhibition for discovering the best of design, architecture, fashion and the arts in all their expressions. This year, the show was mounted in collaboration with the Museu del Disseny de Barcelona and features the shortlisted and prize-winning works of the awards organized by the FAD associations, the most long-lived and most widely recognized in the different disciplines of design: the ADG Laus Awards for Graphic Design and Visual Communication by the ADG-FAD association; the FAD Awards for Architecture and Interior Design (ARQUIN-FAD); the ArtsFAD Awards for artistic creation (A-FAD); and the MODA-FAD Awards for fashion design and industry, as well as the Habitácola Awards for architecture and design students.

The exhibition comprises more than four hundred works and projects, by both professionals and students, in the different disciplines of design. The show comes endorsed by the work of juries consisting of prestigious national and international professionals whose selection is governed by the most stringent criteria of excellence, innovation and originality in their decisions.

The tandem of architects and graphic designers Sarquella Torres + Forma is the new team responsible for designing the montage and graphic campaign of the exhibition.