BASF's ZENOMENON Wins Red Dot Award for Outstanding Design
Only one automotive coating received a red dot award in this year’s competition, and the award winner is BASF's ZENOMENON. Aesthetic appeal is rooted in an ingenious polymer structure. The combination of aesthetics, sustainability, and functionality captivates the jury of the Red Dot.
FRESH PRODUCE
BASF Coatings’ ZENOMENON wins the Red Dot Award: Product Design – The company’s automotive color received the prestigious recognition for its innovative design. This year, it was the only car paint honored in the category “Materials and Surfaces.” According to BASF, this underlines its commitment to cutting-edge design and sustainability.
Ingenious Polymer Structure
The unique formulation of ZENOMENON was developed together with Cypris Materials (California, USA), which uses advanced polymer structures instead of conventional pigments. This technology allows for a large amount of renewable resources being used – thus representing a sustainable option within automotive surface aesthetics. It creates color effects through self-assembled layers that reflect light differently at each level producing a vibrant iridescence with flip-flop characteristics that shimmer as they change hue depending on viewing angle or light source direction. Moreover, these polymers can be employed in LIDAR/radar sensor systems relevant for future mobility concepts.
Design and Technology Excellence Recognized
“Winning a product design red dot is something very special – especially for us as a chemical company. It shows our competency in terms of design and technology – as well as the trust automotive industry customers place in innovative solutions from BASF,” said Mark Gutjahr, Global Head of Automotive Color Design at BASF.
Standard Criteria for Success
The Red Dot Design Award judges products according to four key aspects of good design: function quality; attractiveness; usability; environmental friendliness. Therefore, jury members praised ZENOMENON's forward-looking development that combines beauty, eco-consciousness and practicality in one package.
Exhibition at Red Dot Design Museum
All winning entries including an exhibit coated with ZENOMENON will be on show until May 2025 at the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen, Germany. The museum is located within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Zollverein.
About BASF’s Coatings division
The Coatings division of BASF is a global expert for automotive OEM and refinish coatings, decorative paints as well as applied surface treatments on metal, plastic and glass substrates across diverse industries. In 2023, it achieved global sales of about €4.4 billion. For more information, visit BASF Coatings.
About BASF
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future – combining economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 112000 employees work to help realize this ambition. In 2023 the company generated sales of €68.9 billion euros worldwide. More information can be found on the website https://www.basf.com.
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