Supporting and Showcasing the Best in Young Home Product Design Talent
London, 3rd February 2008 – The EDF Energy Ideal Home Show 2009, the home of great ideas, celebrates 10 years of inspiring creativity with the Concept Products Competition. Once again, this innovative venture returns to give young professional designers the opportunity to showcase their ideas in an arena that attracts attention from the design industry.
This year, Karoline Newman, who brought Concept Products to the Show 10 years ago, has shortlisted 25 designs that reflect the key themes of the 2009 Show. Karoline is a long- tanding cultivator of young design talent and the EDF Energy Ideal Home Show is delighted to have her support for the 2009 Show. This year’s Concept Products revolve around making the best use of space and finding practical solutions to saving energy.
All 25 designs will be showcased in the “Innovation Nation” area of the Show. Examples of the shortlisted products include, “I rest my case” by Alexandra Parker-Brown which is a small suitcase reminiscent of a Chesterfield sofa that can also become a footstool and the Radiator by Sam Sheard which illustrates how to use energy efficiently. Radiators are decorated with colourful farm animal designs in thermochromatic ink. When the radiator is turned off (cold) the graphics are displayed, but when the radiator is turned on (hot) the graphics start to disappear, a reminder to the user of the energy that they are using and the impact it might ultimately have.
New for this year, Concept Products has been integrated into the curriculum of two universities, Plymouth and De Montfort, via briefs given to students during their design courses. Students were asked to come up with design ideas for Space Saving and Sustainable Living. The best of these designs will be showcased alongside the other short listed concept products. Visitors to the EDF Energy Ideal Home Show 2009 will be able to vote for their favourite design either at the Show or via the show website and the overall winner will receive a prize of £2,000. In a new development for 2009, a panel of experts selected from across the design industry will also review the designs and give constructive feedback to help the designers’ progress with their products.
Many previous winners have gone on to have commercial success. For example, Oliver Blackwell, first spotted at the 2007 Show, set up his own chartered industrial design company working with clients such as B&Q. Gillian Westley who showcased her design at the 2008 Show has since worked with the kitchen utensils design company, Joseph Joseph on their forthcoming 2009 design collection.
But alongside these ‘professionally’ designed products the Show will also facilitate an amateur competition in which any member of the public can enter their own design ideas, with the chance of them being made into a real mock-up to be displayed and also voted on at the Show and on the website. Overall, the objective is to demonstrate the creativity which abounds in this “Innovation Nation” and to continue the show’s long heritage of being THE showcase for domestic innovation.
The EDF Energy Ideal Home Show 2009 will run from 20th March – 13th April 2009 at Earls Court London. New for 2009, opening hours will be from 11am – 9pm on weekdays and 10am – 6pm at the weekend. To keep in line with the money saving objectives of the show, ticket prices will stay the same for the third year running, costing £14 on weekdays and £16 on weekends. For locals and commuters who want to make the most of the extended evening programming and events, a reduced ticket price of £5 will be available after 5pm on any day of the week.
For further information, visit www.idealhomeshow.co.uk where additional details on the show can be found as well as archives on the 100 years of home making innovations. The new EDF Energy Ideal Home Show website launches in December 2008 and will mark the beginning of a year round source of product ideas to complement the annual show.
The Ideal Home Show, the world’s largest home interest event celebrates its 101st anniversary in 2009. It takes place from 20th March – 13th April 2009 at Earls Court London. The Show is renowned as the home of great ideas and has seen the launch of many home innovations such as the microwave, the fridge and the vacuum cleaner. The tradition of launching brand new ideas and products to the public is maintained through the Show’s annual Innovation Nation awards, which showcase the work of emerging talent from Britain’s top design schools and now encourage amateur entries from the public.
dmg world media is an international exhibition and publishing company, which produces more than 300 market-leading consumer shows, trade exhibitions and fairs each year.
The company also publishes more than 65 related magazines, newspapers directories and market reports. dmg world media employs more than 800 people and maintains a worldwide presence through more than 30 offices around the world in Canada, the United States, Brazil, the United Kingdom, France, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand. dmg world media is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT), one of the largest and most successful media companies in the United Kingdom.
The combination of EDF Energy and British Energy forms one of the UK’s largest energy companies. The combined business is the UK’s largest producer of electricity. With a current installed capacity of around 16.5GW, we produce almost one-quarter of the nation’s electricity from our nuclear, coal and gas power stations, as well as combined heat and power plants and wind farms. We provide power to a quarter of the UK’s population via our electricity distribution networks in London, the South East and the East of England and supply gas and electricity to over 5.5 million business and residential customers.
Through our climate and social commitments we have launched the biggest environmental and social packages of any UK energy company. The company is also a key player in national infrastructure projects including management of private electricity networks serving four London airports and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, the country’s first major new railway in 100 years.
EDF Energy and British Energy together employ nearly 20,000 people at locations across the UK. The combined companies are part of EDF Group, one of Europe’s largest power companies. EDF is the official energy utilities partner and sustainability partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
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EDF Energy Ideal Home Show 2009 Celebrates 10 Years of the Concept Products Competition
