Lava is European design agency of the year

Lava was named ‘European Design Agency of the Year 2010’ on Sunday night the 30th of May 2010. “It’s as if we’ve won the Champions League!” says Creative Director Hans Wolbers.

The award was handed out during the fourth edition of the European Design Awards, this year in Rotterdam. Lava is the first Dutch agency to win the award. The European Design Awards were created in 2007 to celebrate European design with all its regional distinctive elements as well as its common grounds. The award comes to Lava in the year of its 20th anniversary.
Lava is a creative strategic design agency that belongs to a generation that has positioned itself between the traditional design agency and an advertising agency. Lava is internationally know for its innovative vision on brand identities, called Dynamic Identities, where Lava creates brands that live, learn, and adapt just as their organizations do.

At this moment, Lava is developing Humanity House, a new museum concept for the Red Cross, as well as the new brand identity for the National Historic Museum of the Netherlands.

Apart from the ‘Agency of the Year Award’, Lava won two individual awards. A Gold Award in the category ‘Identity’ for the cultural centre ‘de Balie’ in Amsterdam. And a second Gold Award was handed out for a calendar, designed by Iranian designer Reza Abedini, with whom Lava co-operates under the name Orientation Lab.

What makes Lava stand out from the design-crowd? Partner and strategic director Paul Hughes: “Lava differentiates itself through a creative/strategic approach. Often strategic agencies produce thick reports that are filled with much research and few creative possibilities. 90% analysis, 10% solution. Our way of working is exactly the opposite. Analysis is about the past, our focus is on designing the future.” “Much more pragmatic and useful” says Wolbers. “I recently read that 80% of all the work of these consultancies is left to gather dust in a drawer somewhere. A waste of everybody’s time and money, to be sure.”

So what are Lava’s plans for the coming years? Paul Hughes: “Design is becoming a commodity, more and more. Every year, thousands of talented designers graduate and enter the market. To design something beautiful is becoming the norm. Parallel to this development, we see an increase in demand for strong stories, smart ideas and integrated thinking.” Wolbers: “To tell a good story, in a visual way, that’s what we have been doing successfully for 20 years. And that’s what we will continue to develop over the coming years.”