Ducati may not be lighting up the MotoGP grid on fire with well performing motorcycles, but the company is sure churning out some really beautiful motorcycles. Not sure how I missed this earlier, but the Ducati 1199 Panigale won at the 2013 edition of the Red Dot Design Award competition where 4,662 products went through a rigorous selection process. With the Bologna-based manufacturer clinching the award for the innovative motorcycle, has further underlined the company’s status as a design icon within the motorcycle industry.
Ducati 1199 Panigale Superbike will be exhibited for four weeks at the red dot design museum in Germany initially. Then it will be exhibited in Taiwan and, for one year, at the impressive red dot design museum in Singapore. The red dot design award is the only international award that boasts two dedicated design museums, in Germany and Singapore, thus giving further visibility and added credibility to awarded product designs. I love visiting museums that value design as a discipline. This will definitely be a place for me to visit, if I ever go to Singapore.
And man! Check this motorcycle out. I would gladly buy all my motorcycling gear on closeouts to be able afford something as beautiful!
Ducati 1199 Panigale
Largely from the press release – The Ducati 1199 Panigale’s cutting-edge technology and aesthetic brilliance have combined to create a work of art.
With every single component designed to maximise performance, while achieving aesthetic perfection, the motorcycle’s description further validates its design success. The 1199 Panigale’s shape and form captures light in a way that conveys the dynamism of a body. Solid yet nimble and elegant yet powerful. Its smooth streamlining flows effortlessly from the front fairing to the rear light . Which is artfully housed in the motorcycle’s tail. Even its empty spaces become an essential aspect, with LED lights shaping a surface for the frontal air intakes.
Both the engine and exhausts reveal themselves and yet remain hidden, seemingly playing out a subtle game in which exposure constantly interacts with audacious absence. The result expresses the essence of beauty in every last detail leaving the new 1199 Panigale to celebrate Ducati originality, acknowledged by all as the pinnacle of motorcycling design.
“The red dot ‘best of the best’ award acknowledges all the hard work put in by everyone at Ducati R&D for over three years,” commented Andrea Ferraresi, Ducati Design Centre Director, during the prize-giving ceremony. “Moreover, joining the ranks of the award’s top winners has made this product – and Ducati – part of product design history. Every single component has been designed to be performance-oriented and function-specific. Together, all these components form a harmonious, light, visually stunning product. Which is just how a Ducati should be.”
Prof. Dr. Peter Zec, founder and CEO of red dot, highlighted how outstanding design capacity and economic success go hand-in-hand: “The winners of the red dot product design award 2013 are the protagonists of fast developments within the very culture of industrial design. The last few days have seen us engaged in the extremely difficult task of selecting the best, most deserving designs. Indeed, it is sometimes just a single detail that makes the difference when it comes to showing off a product’s special qualities. All these creations have been assessed and examined by the expert and critical eyes of an international red dot jury.”
The Red Dot Design Museum in Singapore covers 4000m2 and houses over 2000 products inside one of the world’s greatest contemporary design exhibitions. From 2-28 July, the museum will host the winning products of 2013 in an exhibition entitled “design on stage – red dot award winners: product design 2013”, a unique event that will highlight the latest design trends. The Ducati 1199 Panigale will be a part of the exhibition and visitors will have the opportunity to take a close look at the originality and innovation of this impressive “best-of-the-best” motorcycle in the extraordinary setting of the red dot design museum.
And, all you guys, please remember to wear a good helmet (at the very least) when you ride. Just today, a guy on a BMW S1000RR totaled the machine and was killed on the spot near where I live. You can never be careful enough.