Grand Prix Design 2017 for David Bielander, Thomas Ott and Jean Widmer
The Federal Office of Culture is awarding this year's Swiss Grand Prix Design to jewelry designer and artist David Bielander, comic artist and illustrator Thomas Ott and graphic designer and art director Jean Widmer.
With its choice, the Federal Design Commission honors three outstanding designers who have set decisive impulses in the country's cultural discourse.
David Bielander's translation of simple everyday objects into extraordinary pieces of authorial jewelry places the wearer and viewer in unexpected communication contexts. Thomas Ott is a master storyteller whose dark comics without words are universally understandable and visually unmistakable. And Jean Widmer is one of the first Swiss graphic designers in Paris, who was ahead of his time with his clear and colorful, precise designs. He is responsible for the visual identity of cultural institutions such as the Centre Georges Pompidou, the Musée d'Orsay and the Institut du Monde Arabe.
The winners will be honored at the Swiss Design Awards exhibition on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. The exhibition, which will take place alongside Art Basel and DesignMiami, will also feature interviews and photographic portraits of the award winners.
Since 2007, the Swiss Grand Prix Design, endowed with CHF 40,000 each, has highlighted the work of renowned designers who represent the quality and relevance of Swiss design practice in a national and international context.
