Liszt Academy Ranks among Best at 2015 Design Management Award Competition

Established in 2009, the Design Management Award aims to showcase how the design-driven approach, the consistent use and professional management of design can increase the efficiency and competitiveness of an organization. In the words of Dr. Miklós Bendzsel, president of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office and the Hungarian Design Council, the recognition “is conferred upon business organizations and institutions that regard the potentials of design as a key to success and a means of implementing their long-term goals, and whose economic achievements already confirm the value of design.”

This year’s winner of the Design Management Award has been Hello Wood, a brand launched as a new initiative of young architects with a socially responsible thinking. Four other entrants of the competition received a certificate: Borecet Ltd., Laposa Birtok Ltd., Hungarian Charity Service of the Order of Málta and the Liszt Ferenc Academy of Music. The awardees have also won the right to display their works at the spectacular exhibition organized at the Museum of Applied Arts. (In recent years, the certificate of merit of the Design Management Award has been granted to such cultural institutions in Budapest as the Petőfi Literary Museum, the Hungarian State Opera and the Ludwig Museum.) According to the evaluation given by the six-member jury, “integrated design thinking played a special role in the revival of the Liszt Academy and the reinforcement of its position among the competitors. The reconstruction of the building reflects the renewal in the strategic positioning, communication and program development. After carrying out a few significant development projects, strategic implementation continues to go ahead while design communicates and influences the innovative content both in the physical and the digital space.”

Photo by Balázs Mohai

At the awards gala which took place on 24 September 2015 Imre Szabó Stein, Director of Communications at the Liszt Academy and, on the part of the creative agency of the Liszt Academy, Béla Lengyel, managing director of Allison Advertising collected the certificate of merit from Dr. Miklós Bendzsel, in the presence of László Zoltán Szentgyörgyvölgyi, Chancellor of the Liszt Academy. Following the award ceremony Imre Szabó Stein noted: “This recognition is very important to us in that after having been presented with numerous prizes by the creative and communications industry, this time the new corporate image of the Liszt Academy has been recognized by prominent experts in the field of fine and applied arts. We are especially glad that following the Silver Hugo Award, which our new image film won at the Chicago International Film Festival this spring and the second Red Dot Award we have now become prophets in our own country.”  

Imre Szabó Stein holding the award, with Béla Lengyel on his left (photo by Balázs Mohai)

In parallel with the recently completed reconstruction of the main building on Liszt Ferenc Square, the Liszt Academy has also repositioned its operation by changing their image and the portfolio of their creative materials and publications. This institute with a dual function of a prominent university of music education and a traditional concert hall has played a major role on the Hungarian classical music scene for more than a hundred years. Apart from retaining the high quality of music education, rebranding also aimed at the establishment of an internationally noted concert centre integrated in the world’s music life. The starting point for the creation of the complex brand image built on the arc of tension between patina and progress was the architectural heritage of the main building of the Liszt Academy, one of the most beautiful Art Nouveau buildings in Budapest. The newly found visual identity demonstrates the objectives of the Academy by a well-conceived set of instruments. The exceptional success of the redefined brand is shown by the domestic and international acceptance and embeddedness, all which have been achieved in a very short time. The institutional image created under the charge of communications director Imre Szabó Stein won the prominent Red Dot Award in the category of Communication/Corporate Design in 2014.