Stamford, CT – 12 March, 2020 – HARMAN International, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., focused on connected technologies for automotive, consumer and enterprise markets, and its Huemen design team have received 25 iF Design awards, setting a new record and taking the total number of awards received to over 370.
One of the world’s largest and most prestigious design competitions, the iF World Design Awards have been recognizing excellence in design for the past 65 years. HARMAN has often been among the companies selected by the competition’s panel of design experts, but this year was truly exceptional: HARMAN and its Huemen design team received no fewer than 25 awards for the outstanding and original design of a wide array of products from JBL, Harman Kardon, Mark Levinson, and more across consumer, luxury, car and car aftermarket audio as well as communications design for the products’ user interface and app.
The iF World Design Award contenders are evaluated based on innovation and elaboration, functionality, aesthetics, responsibility, and positioning.
In the Consumer audio product and communications design category, the distinguished award winners include:
JBL QuantumENGINE, a PC-based App that supports the new series of JBL QUANTUM gaming headphones. Designed for gamers, the JBL QuantumENGINE combines audio control, multichannel surround sound, multi-zone RGB illumination, 3D audio virtualization, and even 3D head tracking to deliver the perfect gaming audio solution.
JBL CLUB Series Headphones (950NC, 700BT, One), inspired by music industry pros and featuring legendary JBL Pro Sound and Hi-Res audio. The sleek JBL CLUB 950NC headphones make it easy to leave the world behind for all 35 hours of Bluetooth playtime, thanks to Adaptive Noise Cancelling, the 40mm custom orange driver, comfy over-ear cups and a foldable, portable design. Meanwhile, the JBL CLUB 950NC headphones feature Personi-Fi, a technology that adjusts EQ personalization to listeners’ gender, age, and preferences. An iF Design was also awarded to the dedicated My JBL Headphones app, which provides users with the unique experience of their own listening preferences enhanced by their JBL headphones with Personi-Fi technology.
Harman Kardon Aura Studio 3, a stunning Bluetooth speaker that looks as good as it sounds, elevating the home with its timeless, iconic design and 360 degrees of beautiful sound. It pairs room-filling audio with integrated ambient light effects, a water wave ripple movement to experience music in a new, visually dynamic way.
Mark Levinson № 5101 Source Player, for its unmatched luxury audio performance and flexibility as a player of physical and streaming audio as well as a premium high-resolution DAC. In addition to playing all CD formats including SACD, it can stream from NAS, DLNA and UPnP devices via Ethernet or WiFi and from USB drives, plus supports popular streaming services through an app. It is also beautiful to behold, with lavish finishes and bold geometry with inch-thick, bead-blasted, anodized, aluminum front panels machined seamlessly into a sleek glass display recessed into an aluminum bezel.
Among HARMAN’s other iF award winners in Consumer Audio, JBL was chosen for its Pulse 4, Partybox 1000 and Partybox 100, Link Portable, Link Music portable speakers, its Live 300TWS earphones and its Pulse 4 and Partybox 1000 experience apps. Harman Kardon was recognized for its Neo portable speakers and its Citation MultiBeam soundbar.
Besides the consumer products, HARMAN car aftermarket solutions were also recognized with prestigious design awards, including the JBL Fuse compact subwoofer solution or JBL Club Series Speakers for perfectly blending car audio culture with the night club life. JBL Click, another iF award winner, helps drivers stay focused on the road, putting intuitive phone call controls at their fingertips. Moreover, Infinity took home an award for its Reference Series Amplifiers.
In the Car Audio category, the winners include:
Harman Kardon for the new Volkswagen Golf, for its extraordinary sound system that brings the beauty of sound to life, impressing with its sophisticated yet functional design. Its distinctive speaker grills are highlighted by a 60° hole pattern in a nod to the iconic angled slash in the Harman Kardon logo, and are crafted from ultra-thin 0.5mm high-strength steel to support optimal acoustic performance and truly captivating sound.
Bang & Olufsen for its Ford Mustang Mach-E, with an elegant design and unbridled performance. A fabric-covered speaker array takes center stage as the focal point of this premium in-car sound system. Inspired by B&O’s Kvadrat textile-covered speakers, the system seamlessly integrates principles of interior design into the vehicle. Anodized aluminum badges identify the B&O sound system, which elegantly spans the dashboard and surrounds passengers with gorgeous sound.
In addition, Harman Kardon received an iF award for its Polestar 2 sound system and the design teams of Huemen, Bowers & Wilkins and McLaren were recognized for the Bowers & Wilkins speaker grille design for McLaren Speedtail and McLaren GT.
These wins for Car Audio design are also a great testament to the fruitful collaboration between the brand designers and their counterparts on the OEM side, ensuring the speaker grille design to integrate seamlessly into the vehicle interior yet staying true to the DNA of the respective audio and car brand.
“This tremendous achievement further demonstrates HARMAN’s belief in the value of design as a competitive advantage. I’m incredibly proud of the amount of honors and accolades this group has received over the past several years,” said Christian Schluender, Vice President and General Manager of Global Design at HARMAN. “Our outstanding Huemen design team and our world-class HARMAN engineers constantly strive to push the limits to design and deliver ever more intelligent, intuitive, and innovative products that bring brands to life through meaningful and beautiful design.”
HARMAN’s world-class design agency Huemen is the center of creativity, with over 250 gifted designers delivering best-in-class innovation and meaningful user experiences from the car, to the home, to the office, and everywhere in between.
