International "red dot" award given to Switchit™ Dual-Ended Silicone Spatula for superior design innovation
Seattle, WA - For its outstanding design, the Chef'n Switchit™ has received one of the most sought-after design awards: the red dot. This prestigious recognition is awarded annually for superior design quality by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in the "red dot design award" international competition.

The red dot awards recognize innovative products in a number of diverse categories such as automobiles, sports & leisure, home and even textiles and jewellery. Other companies receiving the 2005 red dot award include Apple, Adidas and BMW. With a growing interest in design innovation, companies around the world are seeking recognition for their work, but only those designs that meet high standards in design and functionality are awarded the red dot.

"After the race for the best technical innovations in the last years, companies now increasingly focus on sophisticated designs meeting the demands of target-groups in order to keep their position in the competition", says Prof. Dr. Peter Zec, the initiator of the red dot design award, who will become president of the world umbrella organisation of industrial designers "ICSID" in autumn this year. "Hardly anything is possible without a high-quality design today. The design standards have risen constantly - not only in the high price segment, but finally also in the general market."

This development makes it more difficult than ever to receive one of the awards in the international design competition. At the same time, the importance of such an award becomes even greater for companies because it enables them to communicate their innovative achievements to business partners and consumers via an objective quality label for good design.

With over 20 years of experience creating unique products for the kitchen, Chef'n has become a beacon for innovation in the housewares industry. Previous design recognition includes the "Good Design" award in Japan and the "Unlimited By Design" exhibition in New York.

Award ceremony and special exhibition
The festive red dot award ceremony takes place on 4 July 2005 in the Essen Aalto Theatre. The award-winning works will be exhibited in the special exhibition "Design Innovations 2005 - red dot award: product design" from 5 July to 7 August 2005 in the Essen red dot design museum. The red dot design museum houses the largest permanent exhibition of contemporary design world-wide. For further information visit the web-site www.red-dot.de and click on "press".