Electrolux Design Lab 2013 Theme: Inspired Urban Living

The competition that has generated innovative concepts including the floating air cleaner, Aeroball, the stain tackling, Portable Spot Cleaner, and a portable heating and cooking device – The Snail, returns for its 11th year and today announces the new theme for 2013.

This year the Electrolux Design Lab competition invites the public to get more involved and join the innovative design journey of creating ground-breaking products and solutions of the future.

Electrolux Design Lab 2013 calls on design students worldwide to compete for a six-month paid internship and prize money by submitting ideas for a design solution that considers evolving challenges set to shape our future. This year’s theme, Inspired Urban Living, has been influenced by the growth of ‘urbanisation’, where space is becoming limited as an increasing number of the population shift from living in open rural locations into densely populated areas. The question to be answered is what role can design play to ensure that we are prepared and equipped for this social adaptation?

For the first time this design competition with a heritage of ten years is offering the applicants three focus areas to choose from within the theme of ‘urbanisation’, these are Social cooking, Natural air and Effortless cleaning. Plus, in 2013, the brief goes beyond the traditional ‘industrial design’ category and includes consumables and services.

“For us at Electrolux it is important to view design from a broad perspective; all design solutions that enhance the lifestyles and living environments of our consumers are relevant for us to explore. This is why we want to expand the Design Lab competition in 2013 and invite ideas for products, accessories, consumables and services within three key focus areas for future households; Social cooking, Natural air and Effortless cleaning”, explains the Chief Design Officer, Stefano Marzano.

Key Developments for Design Lab 2013

Taking concepts from further afield: The entry can be a product, accessory, consumable or service, thus allowing design students from different fields of design to be creative in their approach in finding innovative design solutions for future households.
Online competition hub: The best submissions will be published online, offering the students and the public a chance to promote their submissions through social media.
The concept development process: The competition divides the design process into stages, allowing the applicants to concentrate on different areas throughout the process. The first focus is on creating the concept, leading through to the visual presentation and technical specifications, allowing the top submissions to continue to develop during the competition.
Feedback from Electrolux professionals: As the judging is being conducted in different stages, only the best entrants are given access to the next round and go forward in the competition. The Electrolux professionals will be part of the selection process and they will choose the best submissions and engage themselves in the competition by giving feedback to the entrants and encourage them throughout the process.

The Final

Within the final stage, eight finalists will be invited to participate in a concluding event, where they will present their entries to a jury of world renowned professionals. The jury will consider entries based on intuitive design, innovation and consumer insight when awarding the first prize of a six-month paid internship at an Electrolux global design centre and 5,000 Euros. A second prize of 3,000 Euros and third prize of 2,000 Euros are also available and the public favourite chosen by online votes will be awarded with 1, 000 Euros.

The submission deadline for the first competition stage, a concept description and a sketch, is 15th March 2013. More information about the competition can be found on the Design Lab blog electrolux.com/electroluxdesignlab.