The Newcomer Awards

Great talents require a forum! The newcomer awards is a unique distinction for designers who have attracted attention with their extraordinary achievements and creative talent. The renown and international publicity associated with the competition are valuable for the honoured young designers. It is not possible to apply for the endowed awards - representatives of universities or the German Design Council propose the nominees. The international jury of the »German Design Awards« selects five finalists from all nominees. Furthermore, the German Design Council offers all finalists a series of exclusive events where they have the opportunity to meet the foundation members, which include leading experts of the design-oriented industry.

Participation
The »German Design Award – Newcomer« is for nominated graduates in the disciplines of textile, fashion, product, industrial, communication, digital, interaction and interior design as well as architecture either have German citizenship or have graduated in design from a university in Germany. The respective degree should not have been received more than five years ago. Individuals as well as design teams with several persons can participate in the following categories:
- Architecture
- Communications Design
- Digital Design
- Fashion and Textile Design
- Industrial and Product Design
You are invited to help nominate graduates for a free participation in the »German Design Award – Newcomer«: Feel free to use our contact form to suggest professors and representatives of your university, who will be notified of the nomination proposals in the spring.

Form of submission
The »German Design Award – Newcomer« nominees are required to submit a short digital portfolio consisting of a curriculum vitae as well as visual and textual representations of at least three and at most ten projects in order to participate. From their portfolio of a maximum of 20 pages, participants are required to assign a preference to three projects that best represent their design approach.

Costs
Participation in the Newcomer Awards is free of charge.

Evaluation criteria
The jury evaluates the submitted portfolios regarding to the stylistic independence of the design and their development potential. The following evaluation criteria, among others, are applied:
- Conceptual quality
- Design quality
- Technical and formal autonomy
- Development potential
- Degree of innovation
- Symbolic and emotional content

The Newcomer Jury 2024

An independent international jury of experts decides on the German Design Award Newcomer. As with the evaluation of the general submissions, it is made up of representatives from industry, universities and design.

Caterina Bellavite

Senior Principal Service Designer, Deutsche Telekom AG | With a master degree in Product Service System Design from Politecnico di Milano, she started her career with eight years at Samsung. After leading the design strategy team in McLaren Applied for three years, in London, she moved to Germany, working for Siemens Healthineers before joining Deutsche Telekom in 2021. As in-house design strategist, she is passionate about working in multidisciplinary teams and delivering value through Service Design, Systems Thinking and Data Driven Innovation.

Luzia Hein

Founder Studio Luzia Hein, »Newcomer of the Year 2019« | Luzia Hein is a graphic designer and art director based in Hamburg. Her work is characterised by a reduced language of form and a delight in colour combinations. In 2019, she was honoured by the German Design Council as a »Newcomer of the Year 2019« at the »German Design Awards 2019«, and since 2020 she has been one of the selected designers who create stamps in Germany.

Julia Liebermann

Fashion Designer Womenswear, IVY OAK GmbH | I have been working as a womenswear designer at IVY OAK since 2018. I studied at the Academy for Fashion and Design in Berlin, which I successfully completed in 2013 as Best Graduate. I gained my first experience in womenswear design after graduating at Alexander McQueen in London and later at Acne Studios in Paris. After that I worked at Marc O'Polo near Munich in the woven design department. I always keep my eyes open for trends, colours and above all innovations in fashion.

David Wojcik

Co-Founder of Boxbote, Innoit & kroot, »Newcomer of the Year 2021« | David Wojcik studied product design and is co-founder of the start-up Boxbote, the creative agency Innoit and the recruiting tool kroot. Wojcik is the co-inventor of the Hebix lifting aid, which is distributed internationally. He has won several national and international design awards, including the if Design Award and the James Design Award. In 2021, he was named »Newcomer of the Year 2021« of the »German Design Awards« and his products have been exhibited at the National Museum of Science in London, among other places.

Newcomer 2023 : Tobias Trübenbacher

Born 1996 in Traunstein, BA Industrial Design studies 2017 University of Applied Sciences Munich, 2021 UdK Berlin, BA Product Design, since 2022 TU Munich MA Architecture + MA Urban Studies, employment today since October 2022 studies Architecture and Urban Studies TU Munich + teaching (design) at Burg Giebichenstein Art Academy.

more about Tobias Trübenbacher

Katharina Düing

Born 1999 in Koblenz, BA Sustainable Design Ecosign - Academy of Design, Cologne, expected 2023 MA Sustainable Design; regular honorary work for the Cologne Society for Christian-Jewish Cooperation e.V..

more about Katharina Düing

Paula Keilholz

Born 1994 in Burghausen, BA Fashion Design studies 2020 UdK Berlin, since 2021 HBK Braunschweig, MA Transformation Design; various internships, among others at Chloé in Paris.

more about Paula Keilholz

Anna Koppmann

Born 1993 in Munich, Germany, BA Product Design Studies 2021 UdK Berlin, Scholarship Creative Prototyping, UdK Berlin.

more about Anna Koppmann

Tim Schütze

Born 1997 in Hamburg, BA Industrial Design studies 2021 University of Applied Sciences in Berlin, since 2021 UdK Berlin, MA Product Design.

more about Tim Schütze

The Benefits

Prize money

The expert jury selects five finalists from all the nominations. At the award show, a winner will receive the »Newcomer of the Year 2024« award, which comes with a prize money of 15,000 euros. The remaining finalists will each receive 2,500 euros.

Gallery

Furthermore, all five finalists will be presented to the public in the gallery at www.german-design-award.com

Awards ceremony

In January 2024, the award show of the »German Design Awards 2024« has been scheduled. Renowned industry and design experts will discuss on the most important trends in the field of design. Highlights include the presentation of the »Gold«-Winners and the announcement of the»Newcomer of the Year 2024«.

Exhibitions

The award show is accompanied by an exhibition in which the five finalists are presented. In the exhibitions the projects of all finalists will be presented to the public together with the winners of the »German Design Awards 2024 – Excellent Product Design«, »German Design Awards 2024 – Excellent Communications Design« and »German Design Awards 2024 – Excellent Architecture«.

Start Newcomer 2024

April - May 2023Nomination proposalsof the universities

End of May 2023Notification of nominees

03 July 2023Registration deadline

23 July 2023Deadline portfolio

Mid August 2023Jury session

Mid August 2023Notification of jury results

November 2023Publication of the online gallery

January 2024Awards show