Designing for award-winners

Standing on stage and receiving an award in front of an audience of other esteemed entrepreneurs and innovators is the culmination of vision, hard work, setbacks and perseverance. The journey behind the creation of the trophy is similar – at least for the Swiss Technology Award, Swiss Economic Award and SEF.WomenAward. Each one designed right here at Creaholic.

Where does inspiration for an award design come from?

In 1999, Creaholic spin-off Wood Welding was recognised with the Swiss Technology Award. It was a remarkable moment for Creaholic and our Co-founder and Chairman, Mars Aeschlimann. Wood Welding hit yet another milestone in 2006 when it won the Swiss Economic Award. Creaholic's connection to award design was sparked by these two triumphant moments – the emotion behind winning is something we understand first-hand and has shaped the way the design team envisioned these significant keepsakes.

Swiss Economic Award: “Golden Milestone”

“The most important prize for young entrepreneurs in Switzerland”.

When Creaholic’s Mario Tronza began working on the design for the Swiss Economic Award, he created three approaches: milestone, focus, and growth. To him, these represented chapters in the story of start-ups and entrepreneurship.

The selected idea – milestone – evolved to the “golden milestone”, which captures the tipping point in the story; the step that sees the idea realise its potential. While a business may experience many milestones, this award represents a golden milestone.

The award is not without its own technical journey. Assembling it is much like a puzzle. The hollowed-out bricks are assembled by hand and must fit over the vertical screws just so.

Swiss Technology Award: CO2-absorbing cement

The design of the Swiss Technology Award reflects exactly what the trophy stands for: innovation and iteration. Its base is made of a carbon-negative material that incorporates recycled concrete as well as other types of demolition waste. The material also includes a novel mineral that absorbs CO2 and strengthens the concrete, it was developed at the Cemex Research Centre in Brügg, just around the corner from the Creaholic office.

Mario worked with Andrew Hirniak to bring the concept to life. The designs were inspired by iterative innovation, using repeated elements to symbolise the reoccurring steps in the process. The layer-concept was chosen for the final design.

SEF.WomenAward: Unique works of art

“The women’s business award”.

Arguably the most artistic of the three awards designed at Creaholic is the SEF.WomenAward. This project began in 2021, in the midst of the COVID-19 lockdown. Mario aimed to support an artist – as arts and culture were one of several areas that took a big hit during the pandemic – and he knew he wanted to look beyond Creaholic for the ideal collaboration.

His imagination led him to design a feminine, modern and abstract trophy that could blend into the winner’s office or home as a piece of art. He sought out a female artist who could create these unique structures and found Sandra Häuptli, a ceramic designer in Basel.

Sandra integrated the colour into the material, which led to the shape of the lines that represent the pathways and journeys of an entrepreneur. In 2023, the awards took on a slightly different shape but maintained a timeless and dynamic appearance.

From high-tech to masterpiece

The work performed by Mario in designing these awards underscores the breadth and depth of our skillset. From customer experience management to technical product development, our Professional Inventors are equipped with skills to execute a diverse range of projects for our clients. And we never skimp on the creativity – the awards design is obvious proof of the artistic flair often incorporated into many of our projects.

And now, we’d like to take these last lines to congratulate all the winners of the Swiss Technology Award, Swiss Economic Award and SEF.WomenAward – keep up the great work. We hope these awards continue to be a symbol of your achievement and how far your entrepreneurial spirit has taken you!

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