Red Dot has named Flavio Manzoni and the Ferrari Design Team as the 2019 Red Dot: Design Team of the Year. Since 1988, Red Dot has been selecting a team each year that produces excellent product design year after year. The Head of Design of Ferrari and his crew are one of the forerunners in the industry and have won over the jury with innovative and aesthetically outstanding premium sports cars.
"The Red Dot: Design Team of the Year 2019 has not only won over our respected jury, but also me personally," commented Professor Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of the Red Dot Award. "Ferrari understands better than any other company how to make luxury sports cars objects of desire. The designers use state-of-the-art technology and an emotionally appealing language of form to create an incomparable driving and brand experience, and they have been doing this for years. I take my hat off to Flavio Manzoni and the entire design team and wish to congratulate the laureates most sincerely on this pioneering achievement."
Between 2015 and 2019, the models designed by Flavio Manzoni and the Ferrari Design Team have won a total of 14 distinctions in the Red Dot Award: Product Design. The jury bestowed the highest distinction in the competition, the Red Dot: Best of the Best, on the designers five times in a row, for the FXX-K, 488 GTB, J50, Portofino and Monza SP1 models. This accolade is the first of its kind in the history of the award, with no other automobile manufacturer reaching such a level of success. Ferrari will receive the sought-after title of honor for this consistently innovative and unparalleled achievement.
"The Ferrari Design Team and I are very proud to receive such a prestigious award," Manzoni stated. "Red Dot has accompanied the history of design and has helped to promote its evolution by establishing ever higher terms of comparison, pursuing the constant improvement of aesthetic and technological qualities of the universe of objects in daily use. As designers, this accolade encourages all the members of the Ferrari Design Team to draw new creative stimulation, which fuels our passion for our work."
The Ferrari Design Team has its creative center in the new Centro Stile building in Maranello, Italy. When Flavio Manzoni was named Senior Vice President of Design at Ferrari in 2010, he set out to establish a highly structured dedicated in-house team, with the aim of developing the future design concepts for the Ferrari brand.
As the Head of Design, he has always placed great emphasis on modeling. This led to the development of scale models by digitally controlled milling machines subsequently formed by experienced designers before adding the finishing touches by hand. "Every Ferrari stands for innovation, beauty and driving thrill," emphasizes Manzoni, adding that "every model has to embody the essence of the brand."
He compares his design team to a jazz ensemble, where everyone has his or her own strengths and individual skills. Ultimately though, everyone is working toward a shared goal and is invested in the future of the brand. The open and trusting culture of communication fostered by Flavio Manzoni supports this process. By establishing the in-house design team and the Ferrari models developed under his leadership, Manzoni has created a true masterpiece.
Photo: Courtesy of Red Dot