Weltenmacher 2011

The Fachhochschule Dortmund’s FOCUS Award has been a tradition for 28 years now. Brought into existence in 1983 by Ben Fernandez of the Parsons School of Design in New York and Professor Ulrich Mack from Hamburg, the Award soon found it’s home at the Dortmund technical college through Professor Harald Mante and has since become a continuing tradition.

Originally designed as a competition in photojournalism, over time the FOCUS Award developed into a several-day international design festival and is now open for all disciplines of design. The FOCUS Award is an event organized by students for students.

Standard 2007

In 2007, the theme of the FOCUS Award was »Standard«. There are many standards in existence, most especially in visual communication, for instance with regard to format, composition, and typography. The DIN standard of 1922 (after which the surface formats are defined) represents one of the best known guidelines which features the »golden ratio«. Correspondingly, the FOCUS Award 2007 was conducted as an analogy to this milestone achievement in the setting of visual standards: In addition to a layout which repeatedly showed the DIN standard, visitors were led through the Fachhochschule by way of a guidance system made of standardized cardboard moving boxes. The final exhibition was presented in proper style at

zweiter Blick 2005

»Taking a second look« is a proverbial reference to the different ways of perception we are able to apply. As stated by Saint-Exupéry: Is the essential invisible to the eye? To what degree is then the substance and expressiveness of pictures that are the actual basis for media communication? The imperative to perceive and take a closer look, however, is at the same time a summation for coming into close contact with and for the processing of pictures and their appeals. The reception of pictures and the interface between their representation and perception has always been the fertile soil for art and creativity.

Bilderkriege 2003

In 2003, the theme of the FOCUS Award was »Picture Wars« (Bilderkriege). Regardless whether the stress of the theme was put on »picture« or »wars« – the event was centred on media exhibits of war and thus the power of pictures. Everyone that does creative work has to be aware that pictures have the potential to be used to ignite social conflict.

This was especially problematic in 2003, considering the then still current images and media coverage of such disaster scenarios as 9/11 and the Kosovo War. However, media visualization such as war photography and picturesque representations of historical events must also be considered as playing a role in art history.