From high-gloss pillar covers on cars to light-guiding materials in luminaires, PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds can be found in many different fields of application.
 |
“PLEXIGLAS® has long been an inspiring material for designers. Now we are using our international Black & Bright campaign to acquaint a wider public with the wealth of opportunities offered by our molding compounds, and to raise our profile among key decision-makers,” says Siamak Djafarian, head of the Molding Compounds Product Line in Evonik’s Performance Materials Segment. “That’s why we are directing our campaign not just at our own customers, but at their customers too, such as automobile manufacturers. For us, that’s a new approach.”
With this in mind, Evonik has developed a large number of different specific measures. PLEXIGLAS® is presenting itself to a broad section of the public from May 10 to June 11 in an exhibition at the prestigious Red Dot Design Museum at Zeche Zollverein, Essen, entitled “PLEXIGLAS® - From inspiring material to innovative design”. The second half of 2017 will also see the launch of an advertising campaign in leading European trade magazines for the plastics and automobile industry. This will be backed up by technical articles and case studies. The campaign will also be rolled out in the USA and China as of year’s end.
Four-week design exhibition
The special exhibition at the Red Dot Design Museum, which attracts some 150,000 visitors each year, showcases outstanding designs created in the automobile and lighting industries, and in everyday applications involving PLEXIGLAS®. “PLEXIGLAS® is an extremely versatile plastic. It is also highly weather-resistant, easy to form and fabricate, and offers many convincing benefits such as low weight and excellent light-guiding properties,” Djafarian says.
“That explains why our material has established itself in many fields of application. In others, it helps to drive innovations. Our whole campaign, and the exhibition too, of course, offers an emotional take on the plethora of uses for the material and how it bridges tradition and modernity,” adds Doris Hirsch, who is responsible for Global Communications in the Molding Compounds Product Line.
 |
The exhibition also features a real MINI clubman that was brought to the showroom for this event. In this model, the black pillar covers that frame the windows are made of a non-transparent grade of PLEXIGLAS® molding compound, which gives the vehicle its homogeneous appearance.
Under the slogan “See and be seen,” the exhibition also highlights two key design elements in vehicles - headlamp lenses and taillights - both as complete components and their individual parts.
Other items on display are various luminaires in which PLEXIGLAS® sets off the brilliant light emitted by LEDs to full effect. But the special exhibition also contains everyday items in which PLEXIGLAS® plays an important part. One example is a stool that received the coveted Red Dot Design Award itself in 2012.
Dialogue with decision-makers
Evonik is also setting store by dialogue in other elements of the campaign. For one thing, a fringe conference is planned with automobile and lighting designers, representatives of OEMs, and selected customers. The Product Line will also be represented at various events such as the VDI conference “Plastics in Automotive Construction”, which took place in late March. In September, it will additionally take part in the International Symposium on Automotive Lighting in Darmstadt, and at FAKUMA in Friedrichshafen, Germany, in October.
