iF World Design Guide
What is good design?
This question is always open to debate - But you would be right in assuming that an institution like iF Design, which has been awarding one of the most prestigious design prizes for over 60 years, has the required competence needed to make this decision. This is why the website relaunch of the iF should not be seen as any less than an international catalogue for good design.
The new IF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE makes the entire archive of all design objects that ever received the iF award accessible online for the first time, from timeless furniture design classics to kitchen equipment from the 1970s, right up to digital communication from the more recent past. Included in the guide, along with 37,000 award-winning entries, are also 14,000 award-winning companies and 50,000 ideas from up-and-coming young talent.
The objective was to conquer this mountain of material and to transform the gigantic data base into a unique source of inspiration for the design world. The solution is something that is mostly unseen: An intelligent back-end tames the material and standardises it for its presentation on the website. With a pared-down intuitive interface, it is easy for users to find their way around the abundance of entries.
“Good design is as little design as possible.”
Dieter Rams, iF-Juror 1990 - 1995
An intelligent filter system does this by creating a manageable selection of options. By choosing a time period, category or region, the iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE generates a compilation for the user in real time. And if users are not really sure what it is they are looking for, the Design Guide suggests particularly interesting collections for them.
The end product looks really clean and simple. The iF WORLD DESIGN GUIDE is rather like a coffee table website – an inspiring catalogue of good designs. And it has all come full circle with this website itself receiving the Red Dot Award for good design!
