Prize for design excellence
Kitchen manufacturer ALNO received one of the coveted iF communication design awards in the "corporate architecture" category for its booth at Eurocucina, an international kitchen trade show in Milan. The booth was designed by Thomas Hundt’s Stuttgart-based agency, jangled nerves, together with ALNO.
"We’re proud to have won this award. It proves we accomplished what we set out to do in Milan. We deliberately designed our booth as an open communication platform. Visitors and the iF awards jury obviously found our approach to their liking," said Stefan Popp, the Chief Sales Officer of ALNO AG.
Of the 1290 submissions from 16 countries, 310 won the iF communication design award. 55 nominees received the prize in the "corporate architecture" category. The jury looked at several criteria such as atmosphere and product communication. ALNO’s trade show booth is in the running for one of the 30 iF gold awards for exceptional achievements, but the results will not be announced until the iF awards ceremony in Munich in September 2008.
ALNO had given jangled nerves three main guidelines for the booth design: it should be open, have space for discussions and present the products attractively. The agency delivered • and how. Instead of an enclosed, prefabricated block, jangled nerves built a platform on which ALNO presented four specially selected kitchens. Textured cloths hanging above the booth separated it visually from the rest of the hall. Best of all, visitors standing at any point in the booth could easily look into the kitchens, some of which had been lowered into the platform.
This openness in presentation encouraged openness in communication: ALNO and jangled nerves placed a U-shaped counter in the center of the booth; waiters worked on a lowered floor inside the "U". That way, the wait staff remained at eye level with visitors sitting at the counter. For an even more striking, friendly atmosphere, a luminous ceiling was hung above the counter and nearly 4,000 white cloth napkins attached to it.
| 
