Insight into the work of the iF Jury 2022
What does it take to be part of the iF Jury? What to expect as a jury member? Get a sneak peek into the work of the exceptional design professionals at the final round of the iF DESIGN AWARD 2022 in Berlin!
But first, we have to talk about this year's jury in general: What was so remarkable about it?
For more than six decades, iF has invited high profile design experts from all over the world to be part of the jury session of the iF DESIGN AWARD. Though we all still have a long way to go until gender equality is fully achieved in the design world, we are especially proud of getting closer to having an equal percentage of women in the jury. With 55 female jurors we achieved almost 42 percent. Not just because of them designing things in a different way or having a different focus than men - but because it should be a given.
A total of 132 jurors from more than 20 countries evaluated nearly 11.000 entries in the online preselection - a great challenge they successfully mastered! About half of the products made it to the final round in Berlin. Luckily, a lot of participating companies were able to get their entries shipped to the location, so that the final jury - now consisting of 75 design experts - got to physically experience them for the first time. As before, the other products were assessed digitally at the computers and tablets iF provided for the jurors. Finally, 1,973 participants can look forward to receiving the iF DESIGN AWARD 2022! The iF DESIGN AWARD 2022 Gold was awarded 73 times for outstanding design achievements!
What was especially exciting about this year's iF DESIGN AWARD was both the final jury round that could finally take place in a physical way, but also that the new judging process was included. In hopes of providing a more detailed feedback for the participants, iF Design worked closely together with various design professionals to develop the iF Scorecard. Already used in 2021, it was the first time, the jurors had to deal with it at a physical jury round. And what a success it was! Because of the evaluation being divided into five different criteria (idea, form, function, differentiation, impact), it urged the jurors to have an even closer look at the entries, which led to some heated but productive discussions!
"It was our intention to make the final jury round in a physical way and partly in a kind of hybrid way. Special thanks go to the iF team, the jury members of course and also to the participants, who were able to send their products in time. So, thanks to everybody", concludes Uwe Cremering.
Welcome!
It doesn't matter, if you are on the other side of the world - our Frank Zierenberg will give you a warm welcome anyway!
Hybrid working at it's best!
It is a difficult task to properly involve the remotely connected members - or so we thought. After all, the on-site jurors described the look and feel of the products in such detail that the remote jurors could easily participate in the discussions. Kudos to them!
What does it take to be a part of the iF Jury?
The following skill set is required:
The jurors have to understand which cultural influences stand for certain design criteria. They need the ability to distinguish it.
They need a special eye for the smallest detail that makes a product an innovation and should be able to appreciate and award a future-driven design despite some weaknesses in its presentation.
Apart from that, fairness in combination with respect for the work of colleagues is a major aspect. The ability for a responsible handling of each entry is a key characteristic as well.
Where to find those jurors?
Great jurors who understand all above mentioned aspects of jury work, accept them and take part with curiosity, fun and fairness, are actually hard to find. The jury members have to reflect the countries, where the entries are coming from and be a mix of young and experienced.
iF does an intensive scouting by monitoring different media, visiting companies, studios and events as well as by asking former jurors for their recommendation. This is something we do right after the jury sessions because it's really important to us. After all, they know best what it takes to be a great juror and where to find them.
