On the back of its success at the iF Design Awards, Kenwood has been awarded two Red Dot Product Design Awards for the Chef XL Sense and MultiOne.
This year the awards received 4,928 entries from 1,994 participants from 56 countries making it the largest and one of the most recognised product competitions in the world, but also the most international.
“What sets Chef Sense apart from previous Kenwood products was really the focus given to aesthetics and delivering the best user experience we could,” said Jamie Weaden, Kenwood industrial design team leader. “Historically our products have achieved a rational consumer pull, rather than an emotional one — acknowledged excellence, rather than user desire. We believe a progressive aesthetic paired with investment in the key touch points, both in terms of time and cost, will be critical in driving desire and delivering delight in ownership for many years to come.
Weaden said the inspiration behind the Kenwood Chef Sense was the need to stay relevant for the consumers of tomorrow.
“Consumers have evolved — we understood we must evolve too to engage with them on a more emotional level, delivering desirability and an enhanced ownership experience, alongside the bedrock of best-in-class performance. Sense is a positive step to extend Chef into a more approachable and emotionally engaging territory, both in product and communication terms. We worked carefully to balance over 60 years of valuable heritage within Chef, with a need to be more progressive and modern, in order to remain relevant to the next generation of consumers.
“The most seminal product designs are built on a simple and instantly recognisable product iconography or silhouette (iPhone, Anglepoise lamp, Concord, Mini, VW Beetle etc.) so the design approach was to simplify and reinforce the ‘reverse C’ silhouette, whilst dialling up the prominence of the key ‘hero’ elements (bowl and dial).”
The Kenwood Chef also won an iF Gold Award, the first for Kenwood in its history.
“Kenwood’s products have won numerous design awards over the decades, but as the iF Gold Award recognises only the very elite of the winners, it’s especially prestigious – it’s like a ‘Design Oscar’. We are among only 75 Gold winners across all product categories, selected from almost 5,000 entries by an international panel of experts; it’s an achievement to be very proud of.”