Press Release
Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger by Ivan Levak and Iva Grgic Is Granted the Bronze A' Design Award in Furniture Design
Ivan Levak and Iva Grgic acknowledged for furniture design by the international grand jury of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 19, 2025 /DesignNewswire/ A' Design Award & Competition has announced that Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger by Ivan Levak and Iva Grgic, designed for Iva.n Design Studio, has been granted the Bronze A' Design Award in the Furniture Design category. The recognition forms part of the 2024 - 2025 A' Design Award & Competition and was determined through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who scored anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Bronze A' Design Award
The Bronze A' Design Award is given to outstanding designs that showcase a high degree of creativity and practicality. It recognizes the dedication and skill of designers who produce work that stands out for its thoughtful development and innovative use of materials and technology. These designs are acknowledged for their professional execution and potential to influence industry standards positively. Winning this award highlights the designer's ability to blend form and function effectively, offering solutions that enhance people's lives and wellbeing.
More About Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger
The more items you hang on it, the more stable it gets; that is the main statement regarding this object. Coat hangers very often have stability issues; jackets, coats, sweaters etc. can lean the hanger. In Axel's case, while being designed, designers used gravity as an ally, to help its users to keep the tall hanger centered using its mid axis. Axel is a high quality product. Build by only two elements; a steel joint and a massive wood leg. Multiplied by three. Easy to repair since it's hand built.
About Ivan Levak and Iva Grgic
Ivan Levak is a creative director and designer from Zagreb who grew up in Milan and was educated in Holland and Germany. He started his creative adventure during his college days as a volunteer to create an event that later will become Croatian's first design week called D-Day (Design Day). Being able to meet all the design scene at that time, he starts doing his first product design collection for a very important, local design shop called Modus. After learning how to be an independent senior designer, he moves to Holland to master his graphic design skills and learn more about hospitality and spatial design.
Award Record
Ivan Levak and Iva Grgic is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Furniture Design Award
The A' Furniture Design Award is an international furniture competition recognizing good furniture designs by best furniture designers worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to furniture designers, product designers, industrial design studios and furniture brands from all countries. Entries typically include chairs, tables, sofas, beds, cabinets and shelves. Awarded furniture designs are published at https://dezigners.org/design-category/furniture
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://dezigners.org/170531
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/170531
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!170531
- Laureate Profile: https://dezigners.org/d/366571
- Further Information from the Laureate: https://www.instagram.com/levak.designstudio/
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Axel Self Standing Coat Hanger
- Function
- Self Standing Coat Hanger
- Category
- Furniture Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Royal Blue, Dark Olive Green, Cornflower Blue, Lavender and Gray
- Images
- 5
- Client
- Iva.n Design Studio
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Ivan Levak and Iva Grgic
- Country
- Croatia
- Recognition
- Bronze A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2024 - 2025
- Design ID
- #170531
Credits
- Team
- Ivan Levak, Iva Grgic
- Image Credits
- Photo by Marija Gasparija
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- 'The more items you hang on it, the more stable it gets' - is the main statement regarding this item. Coat hangers very often have stability issues; jackets, coats, sweaters etc. are leaning the hanger. In Axel's case, while designing, we used gravity as an ally - to help us keep the tall hanger centered using its mid axis. Axel is a high quality product. Made only by two elements; a steel joint and a massive wood leg. Multiplied by three. Easy to repair since it's hand built.
- Inspiration
- While being a student and living a modern nomadic life, there were a lot of addresses. Constant moving from one apartment to another. A lot of temporary furniture, usually from Ikea, was left in those 'homes'. We all have our favorite piece of furniture that we love to take with us when moving to a new home. Axel represents a human size item that can easily be disassembled into a flat, narrow card box and easily carried away by hands or on a bicycle. A true piece of lightweight solid furniture.
- Research
- Since both of us, Iva and I, have master degrees in industrial design, after a few sketches we started doing 1:1 models in wood, cardboard, metal and plywood. Everything we could find inside and around the house during the Pandemic. While doing the design index research, we come across that a lot of existing hangers have only three 'horns' to handle the load. And they are usually pointing towards the outer rim of the vertical composition... So we decided to turn these features the other way. Pointing the 'horns' towards the inside and using the central, metal construction for extra loading spaces (making hooks for coats in the process of CNC laser cutting).
- Challenge
- Regarding the challenges we faced while designing, the most complex was to find balance between solid stability and making the hanger as narrow as possible so it can easily fit into small hallways and rooms.
- Realization and Technology
- Made of 3mm steel and solid 4x2cm oak wood. Minimalized and reduced to be as light as possible, which makes it also very easy to handle and move it around the house. Axel has only two main elements that by multiplication, connected by 18 screws in total, becomes a heavy duty (15 items including coats, jackets, sweaters) holder. Very easy and quick to assemble by one person and a single #3 hex key.
- Operation and Interaction
- This object can be operated by one or both hands. Once unboxed, the transformation from its flat pack 2D state to the final 3D composition can be easily done with 6 metal joints for the metal core and the additional6 screws to connect the central metal joint with the wooden legs. The interaction with this object isat least two times daily. Depending on how much its user takes on and off its wardrobe.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project started in Zagreb, during the Covid Era. First sketches were made in 2021 and the final prototype had a premiere in Milan during Salone Del Mobile 2023.
- Specifications
- The hanger is 170 cm tall, and the base is 44cm wide, weights 4kg and comes in a flat box which is 173cm x 9cm x 4cm.
- Keywords
- furniture, storage, hanger, wardrobe, clothes, interior, hallway, lobby
