Brand wins international Best of the Best award for product design

Brand wins international Best of the Best award for product design

The KitchenAid Torrent Magnetic Drive Blender features a dial with six pre-programmed hands-free settings. Courtesy KitchenAid

A kitchen appliance has stood out among a field of 5,000 international contenders for its product design.

KitchenAid, a brand of Benton Harbor-based Whirlpool, said this week that its Torrent Magnetic Drive Blender was selected by the Red Dot jury as a winner of the 2016 Best of the Best award for “groundbreaking product design.”

The Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany organizes the Red Dot Award, which is one of the largest design competitions in the world.

Manufacturers and designers from 57 nations registered products for the annual competition to be judged on criteria, such as degree of innovation, quality, functionality and ecological compatibility.

The Red Dot: Best of the Best award for groundbreaking design is the highest award distinction among 31 categories awarded by the Red Dot Jury.

The recognition is given to 1.5 percent of all entries.

The Torrent Magnetic Drive Blender, which is sold for home use and was released last spring, uses an interlocking magnetic-drive system, instead of a traditional coupler mechanism, to power its blades and safely secure its jar.

The Torrent blender also incorporates a number of other features: a 1.8HP motor; Intelli-Speed Control system and six pre-programmed hands-free settings for juices, soups, sauces, milkshakes, icy drinks and smoothies; the brand's Diamond Blending System with patented stainless steel blades; and a diamond-shaped pitcher that creates "a powerful vortex for thorough and efficient blending."

The KitchenAid Torrent blender was designed by several team members: Zachary Lownds, senior industrial designer, KitchenAid integrated business unit; John McConnell, senior design manager, KitchenAid small appliances; Brandon Mock, senior industrial designer, KitchenAid small appliances; Leif Norland, global design director of cooking, Whirlpool Corporation; and Patrick Schiavone, VP of design, Whirlpool Corporation.

McConnell said that in designing the blender, the team of designers and engineers focused on combining “high performance, easy-to-use features with high style.”