The exhibition “Contemporary Bulgarian Product Design” can be viewed in Hall 7A at the Museum of Humor and Satire in Gabrovo from March 26 to April 8, 2024. It is organized by MD – a magazine for design, interior, and architecture in cooperation with the Museum of Humor and Satire and with the support of North Central State Enterprise – Gabrovo.
Visitors will see 27 products by contemporary Bulgarian designers, six of which have been awarded the prestigious Red Dot international design award. Among them are the DiFOLD Origami Bottle folding bottle, the Infinity desk lamp created by designer Lyubomir Tsvetanov, the innovative Halfbike by Martin Angelov, and the Small Foot snowshoes by Petar Dimitrov and Ivan Kolev. The other two Red Dot products featured in the exhibition are the work of successful Bulgarian designer Ilian Milanov – the LUMI rocking chair for children and the Twip pregnancy test made of biodegradable material commissioned by Unicoms AG, Switzerland. The exhibition is part of a series of events aimed at promoting Bulgarian design and the achievements of Bulgarian designers. The products are part of the book “Bulgarian Product Design 2000/2022” by Bismarck Publishing, released in June 2023.
The exhibition is part of a series of events related to the promotion of Bulgarian design and the successes of Bulgarian designers. The products are part of the book “Bulgarian Product Design 2000/2022” by Bismar Publishing House, which was released in June 2023.
Visitors to Gabrovo will also have the opportunity to see the Halfbike by designer Martin Angelov live. The idea for it was born in 2010 when he participated in the SEOUL CYCLE DESIGN COMPETITION. In his attempt to make the traditional bicycle as compact as possible, he removed the saddle and focused on a different principle of control, which includes the body, resembling the movements of a skier. Two years later, together with Mikhail Klenov – his friend and business partner, they created the innovative Halfbike. The Halfbike is compact, foldable, and can be carried in the subway or in the trunk of a car, and its design is very attractive. In 2015, its second modification was awarded the prestigious Red Dot international award. The third modification of the Halfbike, created in 2019, with improved quality and more intuitive control, proves to be particularly successful. Halfbike is currently mainly sold abroad, with the main destinations being the USA and Western Europe, and lately, interest has been growing from the Far East – Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong.
The exhibition also includes two of the most successful products created by the architecturally educated designer Petar Zaharinov. His innovative thinking and imagination are the basis of the brands of the Praktrik studio, WallStack, and DiFOLD. Among the exhibits, you will see the table by the Praktrik studio, for which the designer received the Platinum A’Design Award in 2011, and the DiFOLD Origami Bottle folding bottle, which expresses the brand’s mission for single-use to remain in the past and to reveal a whole new world of alternatives for multiple uses. Their patented folding technology is used for the folding bottle, preserving the product’s strength and user comfort, saving space, and achieving zero waste in packaging. It was awarded the German Sustainability Award Design 2022 and the Red Dot 2023.
