Industrial Design Information Center, Hungary [Ipari Formatervezési Információs Központ]

Established in 1975 by a decree from the Council of Ministers, the Industrial Design Information Center, aka the Design Center, was first led by Mihály Pohárnok (b. 1939), with strong support from the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce. In 1976, the Chamber called for proposals to create a new visual identity for the Design Center, with the winning entry coming from László Zsótér (b. 1945).
The Design Center’s primary objective was to advance the field of design while also disseminating information about the best design practices. The Design Center did this in a variety of ways, such as by giving seminars, organizing exhibitions (with its own venue opening in 1980 on Budapest’s Gerlóczy utca), and publishing Ipari Forma, the country’s leading design journal for the industry. The Design Forum, initiated by the Center, offered informal training to Hungarian designers by inviting renowned foreign speakers. The Design Center also participated in international joint projects, for example by hosting the 1988 Interdesign Seminar, whose them of ‘Design and Information Technology’ addressed the question of how design can meet the challenges of information technology expansion. Another development of the Design Center, the design shop Forma, was opened in 1983.
The Design Center also compiled a comprehensive database of Hungarian designers, documenting their activities and collecting relevant materials, in order to recommend potential candidates to manufacturers and factory managers. The archives of the Industrial Design Information Center are held by the Central European Research Institute for Art History (KEMKI) in Budapest.
Szőnyeg-Szegvári, Réka Czigler