The first Australian team to take home the famed award, Blackmagic is set to formally receive the commendation on July 4 in a ceremony in Germany’s design hotspot of Essen. The team, led by Australian Simon Kidd, has grown over the last decade to become one of the forefront leaders and innovators of creative video technologies.

Known for their production of end-to-end suites of hardware and software for use in film, TV, advertising and news, the team at Blackmagic have most recently had their designs used for such acclaimed project as The Martian, Mad Max: Fury Road, Furious 7 and Avatar. The Blackmagic philosophy is to foster creativity through making highest quality video affordable for everyone, and as unobtrusive as possible, so the design can foster the shoot, rather than manipulate it.

“Simon Kidd’s team has developed a reputation for combining user-centred design with highly innovative engineering to consistently deliver products that not only challenge, but change markets,” says Prof. Dr. Peter Zec, founder and president of the Red Dot Award “Their strong product language is backed by a deep-rooted design philosophy that is focused on use and function in an uncompromising way. That makes Blackmagic Design the deserved recipient of the highest Red Dot title in 2016.”

Simon Kidd, Director of Industrial Design at Blackmagic says, “We are honoured to receive this coveted award and consider it the highest honour in global design. It recognises our unwavering commitment to making the highest quality video affordable for everyone through incredibly well-designed, high quality, innovative products. To be recognised among the top design-led businesses in the world truly endorses this commitment. We are a young company with an evolving design legacy and we consider this historic award to be validation of the work that we have done to date… and inspiration for the team to go forward.”

Compared to other design awards, the Red Dot: Design Team of the Year is not a title that can be applied for. Since 1988, the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen has annually selected a design team that has earned a reputation for excellent product design.

Blackmagic
blackmagicdesign.com

Red Dot Design Award
red-dot.org