Peter Zec

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Peter Zec (born 1956) is a German professor of business communication, design consultant as well as author and publisher. Furthermore, he is president (2005-2007) of the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (Icsid), the global organisation that promotes better design around the world, and initiator of the red dot design award. In October 2006, the German business magazine “Wirtschaftswoche” elected him one of the “20 creative unconventional thinkers changing the appearance of their companies and creating completely new markets”.

[edit] Life

Professor Dr. Peter Zec studied Media Studies, Psychology, and Art Theory. From 1986 to 1988 he was head of the specialist field “image” and as such was highly involved in the planning of the Centre of Arts and Media Technologies (ZKM), which had been established in Karlsruhe. Peter Zec was president of the Federation of German Graphic Designers (BDG) and the Association of German Industrial Designers (VDID). Since 1991, he has been the head of the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen. During these years he has published books and compendia about the subject of design and he has accepted invitations to lecture all over the world.

In 1993, he accepts a professorship for economic communication at the University of Applied Science for Technology and Economics in Berlin. Since May 2001, he is managing partner of the red dot GmbH & Co. KG. Zec is of the opinion that design may contribute to a significant appreciation and greater success on the international market if it is included as a relevant basis into corporate strategy. After the red dot design award has established as one of the biggest design awards in the past years also in the Asian countries Zec together with Ken Koo, present manager of red dot Singapore, succeeds to call into being the red dot award: design concept.

In autumn 2005, Peter Zec is elected president of Icsid. He considers design to be a complex phenomenon: “Beside the economic aspects design also has important socio-cultural aspects which should be promoted to a greater extent. Design education is a significant part of it. Particularly in the newly industrialising countries in design education emphasis is mainly put on knowledge transfer and the adaptation of already existing ideas and forms of design. It must be the objective, however, to cultivate creative, independent-thinking and courageous young designers who are able to find innovative design solutions for their own culture area thus improving the quality of life in their countries”. This is what Zec claimed in his inaugural address of his presidency. At the beginning of October 2005, the board of directors of both Icsid (International Council of Societies of Industrial Design) and Icograda (International Council of Graphic Design Associations) announced the nomination of Professor Dr. Peter Zec as co-Chair of the International Design Alliance (IDA).