One of the world’s largest and most prestigious design competitions, the iF World Design Awards have been recognizing excellence in design for the past 65 years. HARMAN has often been among the companies selected by the competition’s panel of design experts, but this year was truly exceptional: HARMAN and its Huemen design team received 18 awards for the outstanding design and uniqueness of a wide array of products from JBL, AKG, Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, and more. In addition to this record-breaking performance, HARMAN Car Audio received the honor of its very first iF awards.
The iF World Design Award contenders are evaluated based on innovation and elaboration, functionality, aesthetics, responsibility, and positioning. In the Car Audio category, the lucky award winners include:
Bowers & Wilkins in the BMW X5, for the graceful forms and advanced materials of its Diamond Surround Sound System, in which Diamond, Rohacell®, and Aramid Fibre combine with subtle illumination effects to enchant every passenger.
Bang & Olufsen in the Bentley Continental GT, for its sound system’s ability to seamlessly integrate into the vehicle’s luxurious interior with its elegant lines, illuminated aluminum grilles and uniquely-designed Fibonacci hole pattern.
Bang & Olufsen in the Lamborghini Urus, whose design features specially manufactured aluminum elements as well as the Lamborghini “Y”, and brings an iconic design to the interior of the world’s fastest SUV while underscoring its extreme precision.
Mark Levinson in the Lexus LS, which is blending the pure minimalistic design language of Mark Levinson into the dynamic organic design of Lexus vehicles using black anodized brushed aluminum for the In-Dash DIN unit and a perfect mash-up of natural and man-made materials for the speaker grills to perfectly express omotenashi, the Japanese concept of hospitality, and create the largest sound stage in the industry – an unprecedented listening space for every person in every seat.
Among HARMAN’s consumer audio brands that received iF awards, JBL was chosen for its Flip 5, Charge 4, and Jr Pop portable speakers, as well as its Live 400BT, Live 500BT, and Live 650BTNC wireless headphones, its BassPro Hub subwoofer, and its UA Sport Wireless React and Wireless Pivot earphones. AKG took home awards for its S20 portable speaker and its N200NC wireless headphones. Harman Kardon was recognized for its Esquire Mini 2 portable speaker and the interface of its Citation smart configurable home audio system, and Mark Levinson was awarded for the superlative design of its No.585.5 integrated amplifier.
With these latest awards, HARMAN has further cemented its position at the forefront of design, with a truly remarkable number of honors and accolades received over the past five years. HARMAN’s world class engineers and designers continue to surpass themselves in creating ever more intelligent, intuitive, and innovative products that combine superior sound with sophisticated design.
SOURCE: Harman
