January 13, 2009 The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies announced the LEICA M8 digital rangefinder camera as the recipient of the 2008 GOOD DESIGN award.
The Jury for GOOD DESIGN based their decisions on aesthetic criteria stated in the original 1950 Program-criteria which measures innovation, form, materials, construction, concept, function and utility. Product appearance and aesthetic appeal is also considered.
We are incredibly pleased and honored to accept this award from this distinguished organization, said CEO of Leica Camera AG, Dr. Andreas Kaufmann. The M8, the world´s first professional digital rangefinder camera, has been celebrated since its release in 2006 and continues to impress and astonish photographers and designers alike. The digital successor of Leica´s famed M-series first introduced in 1954, the M8 seamlessly transfers Leica’s core qualities of craftsmanship, lens superiority and practical design into the digital world.
This year the museum received hundreds of submissions from over 48 nations. The jury met in New York and Los Angeles in November and selected over 500 products and graphics worthy of the GOOD DESIGN Award for design distinction. The 2008 GOOD DESIGN show will premiere at the Chicago Athenaeum in June 2009.
ABOUT THE GOOD DESIGN AWARDS
The Chicago Athenaeum´s historic GOOD DESIGN program was founded in Chicago in 1950 by Edgar J. Kaufmann, Jr. with the participation of some of America´s most important designers: Eero Saarinen, Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, George Nelson, Florence Knoll, Harry Bretoia, Finn Juhl and Russel Wright the pioneering greats of American and modern design. GOOD DESIGN remains the oldest and most important awards program worldwide.
ABOUT LEICA CAMERA, AG
Leica represents a union of craftsmanship, technology and experience. It is at once an extension of art, knowledge and philosophy, providing a state-of-the-art optical experience in a precision, hand-made photographic instrument. Leica Camera has a simple mission: to provide users with an incomparable experience, an instrument that defines an unsurpassed heritage and sets a standard of excellence for the industry to meet.