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Cross Culture / Usability, Values, Collaboration, Forum for Brand Management and Communication in International Markets

Design Center Baden-Württemberg
Regional Council Stuttgart, House of Industry Baden-Württemberg
Willi-Bleicher-Straße 19, 70174 Stuttgart
Thursday 19 March 2020, 11:00 – 17:00

How do inter­nationally oriented companies need to act in order to respond to the challenges of the future appropriately? Which individual demands and needs – including those influenced by their customers’ culture – do their products and services have to meet and satisfy? And in a globally networked world that is never­the­less shaped by extreme cultural and regional diversity, which values do both design and brand communi­cations need to convey?

About the event Cross Culture

Cross Culture is a series of events by the Design Center Baden-Württem­berg that focuses on three critical success factors and points out efficient strategies and approaches for tackling these topical issues with the help of renowned experts. Under USABILITY, the forum covers the evaluation of current and future customers’ demands and needs and how they can be met with targeted solutions. VALUES frames the relevant cultural factors, while COLLABORATION discusses new forms of cooperation both within companies and in relation to their external performance. The event will also explore the overarching theme of cultural intelligence, because designers can only take responsibility and provide lasting orientation if they are aware of the political and socio-cultural background and contexts that apply in different markets.

About the lecture Cross Cultural Design

Prof. Marion Digel and the German-Chinese design theorist Lei Zhu will illustrate how intercultural cooperation works in their discussion forum. At the IDI Industrial Design Institute in Zhaoqing, South China, they are testing methods and practices for product design that must prove itself in a global context. The demands, traditions and ideals of Eastern and Western culture are incorporated into the design process in order to generate solutions for a meaningful and sustainable product world of the future. A topic that seems almost visionary in times of increasing protectionism and social division. The bundling of cultural expertise creates synergy effects that can also be transferred to small and medium-sized companies.

About Marion Digel

Marion Digel is professor of the basics of industrial design at the Folkwang University of the Arts. In her teaching activities in the BA and MA Industrial Design she initiated numerous international cooperation projects. She is particularly interested in inter- and transcultural aspects of product semantics.



About Lei Zhu

Lei Zhu holds a bachelor's degree in fashion design and a master's degree in design theory. After working in industry, she has now specialised as a lecturer in the social aspects of design theory. Her focus is on the tension between Western and East Asian history and culture as well as the respective design.
Both teach at the IDI (Industrial Design Institute) in China and supervise intercultural projects there.

Target groups

The forum is aimed at internationally active companies and experts from marketing, sales, brand communication, design management, industrial design, communication design, CSR and development.

Attendance fee*

including materials and refreshments: €90, €40 for students

*The presentation will be held in German, except for Helena Sandman’s workshop which will be held in English.