RAL and IIT agree on strategic cooperation
RAL gGmbH in Bonn and the Institute International Trendscouting (IIT) of the University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaft und Kunst, HAWK) in Hildesheim intend to dovetail their activities regarding communication for professional colour design more closely in the future. For this purpose, the long-term partners have signed a cooperation agreement with the intention to intensify the collaboration especially in the area of digital colour communication.
“By expanding our cooperation, additional opportunities to collaborate with RAL are opened up for our customers regarding RAL FARBEN”, says Rüdiger Wollmann, Chairman of the Management Board of RAL. “Not least by focussing on research projects on the subjects of design, colour and surfaces, we will be able to inform our creative colleagues working in architecture, design, trade and industry even more comprehensively about current and future developments and also continuously expand our range of products and services. Nowadays it’s no longer sufficient to talk about colour as a separate component of design, because our stakeholders expect RAL to provide integrated information and inspiration on surfaces, materials and colour-related topics via various channels and media.
“The cooperation with RAL gGmbH, a traditional German brand with a global presence, represents an important step for the Faculty of Design and area of expertise of colour design at HAWK towards quality assurance regarding the subject of colour coding and colour systems”, states Markus Schlegel, the founder and manager of the IIT. “This will enable us to provide our students, our IIT HAWK Institute as well as our industrial and collaboration partners from industry, trade, agencies and associations with even more extensive research activities and colour communication on a wide range of subjects concerning future forecasting on the effect of colour in a room and the role of colour in an urban environment in the future.” Timo Rieke, a lecturer at the IIT, adds: “The Faculty and specifically colour design must also be prepared for the growing market in further education. This cooperation is a major step towards being able to think and act with a forward-looking approach in this field. But two strong partners and market experts are also paired up with regard to consulting for alumni start-ups or as a partner for former students in the areas of marketing, design and architecture.”
About IIT HAWK
The IIT Institute at HAWK Hildesheim, Faculty of Design, offers the only course in Europe on colour design/colour and surface design and is involved with designing and developing collections through future forecasting and trend research focussing on colour and materials for architecture and products for trade and industry. The IIT Institute International Trendscouting was established at the HAWK University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim in 2004. As an association of experts, in addition to further education, the IIT at HAWK has set itself the target of recording design-relevant developments and trends as well as developing evaluation models and methods for research into design so that in-depth scenarios for a desirable future can be formulated and visualised.
More information at www.iit-hawk.de
About RAL FARBEN
RAL is the applied language of colour. With the RAL CLASSIC and RAL EFFECT colour collections as well as the RAL DESIGN SYSTEM plus, RAL offers professional users of colour a wide-ranging selection of precise colour samples. The range of RAL colours includes a total of 2,530 shades. With colour charts, plastic standards and software products as well as colour design and trend booklets, RAL products offer the ideal product for every design purpose. www.ral-farben.de
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