Vienna, Austria, March 24, 2009 - Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the recognized global leader in the flat panel TV marketplace, today announces a new partnership with celebrated industrial designer and artist, Yves Behar. The partnership marks the designer’s enthusiastic endorsement of the design and eco-friendliness of Samsung’s new lineup of LED TVs.
Leveraging the most recent advances in LED and flat panel TV technologies, the company has created an entirely new category of TVs that deliver astonishingly sharp and vivid pictures in a beautiful new frame that is not only unique, but also amazingly thin and ecologically friendly.
“Samsung has totally changed the face of television, and not just in terms of its appearance,” said Behar, remarking on the significance of this new category of TVs. “The LED captures the essence of a brighter future, in more ways than one. And it’s captured my imagination. When they proposed the formation of a collaborative partnership, it felt very natural.”
Samsung and the designer will collaborate closely throughout 2009 on a global marketing campaign to promote the TVs. The partnership begins with the commissioning by Samsung of a piece of art that draws inspiration from the company’s new LED TVs, as well as from the designer’s own expertise from his many years of work with LED technology and lighting.
When completed, the commissioned artwork will incorporate three key themes: LED technology, environmental leadership, and pure design aesthetics. “The piece is an abstracted landscape made of thin layers that are individually lit to enable a range of dynamic lighting effects,” said the designer. “We wanted to create a showcase object that highlights the beauty, environmental efficiency and magic that this new Samsung LED technology makes possible.”
The two parties will also develop online marketing activities and the designer will endorse this new LED marketing campaign through speaking engagement and a documentary film throughout this year.
Boo-keun Yoon, President of Samsung’s Visual Display Division, discussed the value of his company’s collaboration with a top-tier designer like Yves. “We’re very pleased and proud to be able to enter into this strong relationship with Yves Behar as we launch this brand new category of next generation LED TVs,” he said.
“With his deep concern for sustainable design and his expertise in LED Technology, we feel that Yves Behar is a perfect fit with what we’re trying to accomplish.”
About Yves Behar
Yves Behar is an award-winning industrial designer and the founder of fuseproject, a San Francisco based integrated design agency dedicated to the development of the emotional experience of brands through story-telling. Behar is highly regarded for his use of technology in his art and is also recognized as a leader in the movement to promote natural and sustainable ways of living and consuming. Among his many accolades, he was named as the Designer of the Year from the London Design Museum, 2008, and selected in the list of ’25 visionaries’ by Time magazine, 2007, Yves is also a 10-time recipient of the coveted Red Dot Design Award since 2004.
