As Managing Partner of Phoenix Design and as a designer, Andreas Diefenbach attends to international brands in their strategic innovation and design process.
Why have you become a member of VDID?
Like no other country, Germany represents industrialisation and the corresponding profession of the industrial designer. At the same time, the VDID is the only association in our design discipline where we can truly experience and shape exchange and reflexion. As a designer an design entrepreneur in a studio that's relevant for German design, I feel committed to be part of this community – in order to put the quality and the value of design to the test time and time again, and in order to develop this branch of our profession further with lots of energy, curiosity, vision, courage, but also a critical mindset.
How do you view the development of industrial design?
Design work is increasingly driven by innovation. Customers no longer merely expect a purely stylistic new product design, but they call for the holistic shaping of a product experience that makes sense and that's emotional. The user needs are investigated through extensive research, workshops, and iterative processes. In combination with new digital touchpoints, projects become more complex, more multi-facetted, and more strategic. Increasingly, the solitary product is only part of the overall product experience, which changes the classic role of the designer to being the conductor of various disciplines. We at PHOENIX permanently change ourselves and our partners in order to ensure the substantial further development and future-readiness on both sides.
Jens Wingerath is Design Business Manager with a focus on New Business, automotive and product design at Phoenix Design, Stuttgart.
Why have you become a member of VDID?
During my further education in Design Leadership at Grow, I was privileged to make the acquaintance of Vice President Andreas Enslin and further VDID members. The exchange about design and professional experiences outside of our studio was a very valuable experience for me. As a strong association, the VDID also makes attractive offers for promoting young talent and for showcasing Stuttgart as a design location, something I want to focus on in my work. In our region, we have a high density of powerful agencies and international brands which need an infusion of extraordinary up-and-coming design talent.
How do you view the development of industrial design?
Designers are facing increasingly high and complex demands. Design is being discussed on a C-Management level in the big groups of companies as a strategically decisive competitive edge; the discipline itself is more specialised and more fragmented than ever. To launch and lead such a complex design process calls for well-founded expert knowledge. Also, today, purpose and importance of a product precede its formal design. By means of digitisation, we are increasingly shaping brand experiences in a cyber-physical ecosystem across all touchpoints.
About VDID:
The VDID Verband Deutscher Industrie Designer e.V. [Association of German Industrial Designers] creates the basis for a broad-based dialogue, its members participating in an excellent network. It provides orientation, illustrates the effects of design, takes a public stance and thus promotes both the individual and the general development of industrial designers. | www.vdid.de
