Open call for the plebiscite for the best Polish products

For the 13th time, Łódź Design Festival will indicate the best Polish design!

must have is the most recognizable, independent quality mark, which is awarded annually to the best Polish products. The plebiscite organized by the Łódź Design Festival since 2011 attracts native designers and manufacturers who want to compete for this extremely prestigious title. Applications for this year’s 13th edition can be sent only until 15th February.

The must have plebiscite, organized as part of the Łódź Design Festival, has been awarding the best Polish products for over a decade. Addressed to native designers and manufacturers, it aims to promote good design in Poland and abroad. The plebiscite, being the most media event in Polish design, is also an opportunity to present the awarded project to a wide audience – both in the media and during the Łódź Design Festival itself. The event is accompanied by an exhibition where you can see the awarded projects. Honored with the must have quality mark is therefore not only prestige, but also a recommendation for customers. In the long history of must have, 809 products have been awarded, which immediately won the hearts of consumers. Currently, recruitment is underway for the next, already 13th edition.

Recruitment for the next edition of the must have plebiscite is underway! Applications sent by February 15, 2023 will be considered as part of the 13th edition of the plebiscite, implemented as part of the program of the 17th Łódź Design Festival in 2023.

Participation in the must have plebiscite is free and requires only filling in the form available on the website www.lodzdesign.com/musthave. Applications for this year’s edition should be sent by February 15th, 2023 (the number of submitted products is not limited). In order for a product (collection of products) to be considered in the plebiscite, it must meet two conditions: the manufacturer or designer/design group must come from Poland, and the submitted products must be available for regular sale. An additional advantage will be the submission of products (or collections of products) that particularly meet the contemporary needs of consumers – they are socially sensitive, created with care for resources and do not create waste, care for health or are ideal for the home office.

The Board of Experts must have

Own nominations for the must have plebiscite are also made by the Board of Experts, whose main task is the final evaluation of all applications. Based on the review of current novelties on the domestic market, it selects products that are worth recommending and presenting to a wider audience. These products can represent various categories, such as furniture, interior and garden equipment, fashion (clothing, jewelry, accessories), articles for children, construction, electronics, sport and recreation, health and beauty, hobbies, entertainment, education and services. The Board of Experts includes recognized architects, representatives of the media and the most important design centers in the country. They award the must have quality mark, guided by such criteria as functionality, ergonomics, aesthetics, durability, quality and its price-performance ratio. They pay particular attention to product proposals that respond to the most important needs of modern consumers.

Projects submitted to must have 2023 will be assessed by the Board of Experts composed of:

• Anna Grużewska – editor, journalist, and editor-in- chief of the biggest Polish interior design monthly, “Czas na Wnętrze” and its website, www.czasnawnetrze.pl.

• Agata Twardoch – architect and urban planner, professor at the Faculty of Architecture of the Silesian University of Technology, member of TUP, Affordable Housing Forum and Council of the Rental Market Foundation. He deals with accessible housing and alternative forms of residence. He designs urban layouts and advises cities. Author of the books “System for Living” (Bęc Zmiana! 2019) and “Architects. Will women design better cities?” (W.A.B. 2022).

• Dominika Olszyna-Kniaź – graduate of Cultural Studies and Innovation Management at the SWPS University. Since 2010, she has been working as a journalist and editor specializing in lifestyle and cultural topics. Currently, editor-in-chief of Lifestyle and Kultura onet.pl.

• Hanna Rydlewska – publishing director of “Vogue Polska” and managing editor of “Vogue Polska Living”. For this title, she is preparing a podcast about design, art and architecture. On Chilli Zet radio, she runs her own program about culture and fashion “Limited Edition”. She is the president of the book publishing house Osnova Publishing. Author of the book “Just Friendship” and co-author of the bestseller “Slow Sex. Release love.”.

• JAM KOLEKTYW (Anna Olga Chmielewska & Jola Skóra) – Jola Skóra is a photographer, designer, originator of JAM KOLEKTYW. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Poznań and the PWSFTviT in Łódź, she has been professionally involved in the creative industry for several years. She creates creative and aesthetic concepts for photo sessions and visualizations. She specializes in photographing interiors and arrangement sessions of objects. She has numerous publications in Polish and foreign magazines on interior design and lifestyle. Anna Olga Chmielewska has been designing interiors since 1991. She is also an interior stylist and set designer. A graduate of interior design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and Poznań. Her favorite subjects are eclectic apartments in old tenement houses, cozy suburban habitats and boutique utility spaces. She specializes in styling and arranging interiors for photo shoots, designing sets for photo shoots and advertising films. Author of texts on architecture and design published in the trade press.

• Jan Sikora – born in 1984, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Gdańsk, founder of the studio Sikora Wnętrza. He has received numerous national and international awards for his projects, e.g. Polityka’s Architectural Award, A’Design Award, Solid of the Year and Library Interior Design for the project of Kultura Station. In his projects, he focuses on original and original styles, as exemplified by the recently completed Forge in Leszno. He is a member of SARP.

• Piotr Maciaszek – architect, interior designer, photographer. Co-founder of the Warsaw-based NOKE Architects studio, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. The studio focuses on designing experiences – from those in the interiors of small boutiques to urban layouts. In his projects, he looks for a dialogue between art and architecture.

• Kamil Białas – passionate about modernist architecture and timeless design. He studied international relations and Lithuanian philology at the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. The love of writing about design and architecture prompted him to move to Warsaw, where he took the position of the editor of the Bryla.pl website. Years later, he founded his medium, which today is a leader in the architecture industry in Poland. He is the editor-in-chief of the whiteMAD magazine and the whitemad.pl website. Since 2022, as a member of the Board of Experts, he has been substantively supporting the mut have plebiscite, which is organized at the Łódź Design Festival.

• Zofia Wyganowska – interior designer, graduate of Interior Design and French Studies. After graduating in 2011, she gained experience in architecture and interior design studios, and in 2014 she set up her own studio, where she is responsible for both residential and commercial space designs.

• Małgorzata Szczepańska – editor-in-Chief and Creative Director of Elle Decoration magazine. Designer, stylist, for years associated with the media market. She has cooperated with advertising agencies for which she prepared productions of photo and advertising sessions, including Leo Burnett and the magazines Dom i Interior, Dobre Interior, Wysokie Obcasy, Kuchnia, or M jak Mieszkanie, of which she was also the editor-in-chief. Idyllic Life. Ambassador of the “Kids Design” festival, supporting the creativity of the youngest, originator of the “Młodzi na Start” competition.

• Michał Piernikowski – director of the Lodz Design Festival. Enthusiast of urban activities and design. Initiator and co-organizer of many projects related to creative industries, including: Ad Days Advertising Festival, Creative Industries Conference, Art_Inkubator and Fotofestiwal.

Open call until 15th February 2023.

See at Łódź Design Festival 2023!