Significant evidence of the growth in design excellence at this year's DAME Awards

by Sigrid van der Wel 18 Oct 2016 21:53 BST 18 October 2016

The jury of the prestigious DAME Design Award 2016 competition is pleased to announce that a very high ratio of the 117 entries submitted from 26 countries around the globe have been nominated to enter the final rounds of judgement. Each year the jury uses a consistent set of criteria to examine entries. It then shortlists them into what is known as the Nominated list, from which the final winners are chosen. There is no cap on how many products can be nominated; the selection is purely based on the quality of products on display.

Highest success rate recorded by DAME Award since the origins of the competition For 2016 a total of 67 products have been Nominated, representing 57 percent of the total field. This is a significant 10 percent increase on 2015 and believed to be the highest success rate recorded by DAME Award since the origins of the competition 26 years ago.

Commenting after the nomination day, Bill Dixon, Chairman of the DAME Award jury and owner of the global yacht design house Dixon Yacht Design, stated: "The fact that we nominated so many products this year illustrates the high quality of the items that were presented to us. It was also very encouraging to see a wide variety of entries, even within individual categories, submitted by the smallest firms to the largest marine businesses from right across the globe."

"Outside of boating we have lots of gadgets and consumer products that are incredibly easy to use. It's good to see marine products reflecting that now, often being more intuitive in the way that they work than before – that's really important. With a wider less experienced customer base there must be a better way than having to read a detailed manual. In the marine industry we collectively need to make boating much more fun for the end user. To do that we need products that are interesting and that make boating easier, exciting, enjoyable, comfortable and less stressful. This year's Nominations provide great cause for believing we are heading in the right direction."

The DAME winners will be announced during the Breakfast Briefing in Amsterdam RAI on the opening day of METSTRADE 2016, taking place 15 to 17 November in the Amsterdam RAI Convention Centre.

The DAME Award was launched in 1991 to promote design in all disciplines and to recognise the best-designed products at the METSTRADE exhibition. Its unique relevance in the global marine marketplace has grown in parallel with the explosion in awareness of design in the world around us, from cars and architecture to fashion and consumer goods.

In making its judgements the jury seeks to emphasise the importance of design for all marine products, from function to aesthetics and from packaging to the end product. The DAME jury also considers the expected impact on the marine industry of entries, their suitability for intended purpose, the level of innovation, cost, ease of use or installation and environmental impact. Up to seven Category Winners and the Overall Winner will be chosen from the nominated entries. Products that the Jury considers to be exceptional, but which do not win the award in their category, will be given a Special Mention.

During METSTRADE 2016 the nominated and winning products will be on display in the InnovationLAB re-located in hall 6, within a special DAME 2016 presentation. The category winners and overall winner will also be featured in an information display within the InnovationLAB and all winning companies will present their products on the InnovationLAB on Stage in hall 6.

This year's DAME jury is made up of eight leading industry experts: