During the opening of the 2016 Graduation Show 'In Need Of ...' the Keep an Eye Design Talent Grant was awarded to recent 4 Design Academy Eindhoven alumni. For years, the Keep an Eye Foundation has supported DAE designers - this year, for the first time, through the Design Talent Grant, contributing to the developing careers of recent DAE alumni.
The jury, consiting of Alexander Ramselaar (Backing Grounds), Irene Koel (TheZooooo) and Marije Vogelzang (Head of the Food Non Food department, DAE) judged all projects on social engagement, innovation, and their potential to break out of the design community to look for a relation into the world. The diversity of the nominated projects for the Keep an Eye Design Talent Grant was enormous, ranging from talent development and product development to creating online platforms to spread a clear message about design.
The jury has chosen for those projects with a clear vision, concrete plan and impact and where the jury sees potential and possibilities for results.
Winners of the 2016 Design Talent Grant
Teresa van Dongen - A Spark of Life
Teresa van Dongen wants to bring a new spark of life into what is called in science a ‘dead track’. Teresa uses bacteria that generate electricity and therefor can lit LEDs. Her ambition is to develop this concept, called ‘A Spark of Life’, to a scalable and sellable lighting product. Don’t make all the steps towards an end product on your own. Find a lighting manufacturer with whom you develop your project and find the right collaboration partners. The jury is sure that the Grant will be spent well and that ‘A Spark of Life’ will be in the shops in a few years.
Govert Flint - Bionic Chair
The second winner of a Keep an Eye Design Talent Grant is Enrichers with Govert Flint as one of the founders. Govert continued on his graduation thesis ‘Bionic Chair’, stimulating the brains while working on different levels, and already established interesting collaborations with Schiphol and the University of Cambridge. Interesting multidisciplinary cross-overs between technology, scientific research and commercial parties. What Enrichers has achieved, gives hope for the future, and therefore the jury would like the Grant to be spent to sustainable business development.
Fien Dekker - Rain(a)Way
The third Keep an Eye Design Talent Grant goes to Fien Dekker, a woman with a clear mission and vision. The jury gives her a great compliment to what she has established in the past two years in a field that is - literally set in stone: concrete. Good job, continue the hard work and your plan is solid as a rock. Keep in touch with your tiles.
Gabriel Ann Maher - DE___SIGN
The last Keep an Eye Design Talent Grant is for Gabriel Ann Maher. Gabriel won a Keep an Eye Grant before but how she proceeded her graduation thesis ‘DE_____SIGN’ and the plans and ambitions for the future was reason enough for the jury to give her a second Grant. The jury was impressed by the algorithms Gabriel designed, hoping that Gabriel will democratize them and scale them up to other fields than only the design oriented fields. Media needs objective criticism and the project Gabriel proposed could be the right tool for this.