Published: 6 March 2025
Anna Nowokuńska-Maksymiuk receives German Design Award 2025
Author: Magdalena Miszewska
School of Form lecturer Anna Nowokuńska-Maksymiuk has been honored with the prestigious German Design Award. The jury recognized her signage and wayfinding system for the Chocolate Factory E.Wedel museum in Warsaw. The award ceremony took place on February 7 in Frankfurt am Main.
Museum signage like a box of chocolates
The award-winning project is a unique wayfinding system—a type of spatial navigation design that helps visitors intuitively move through a space—blending functionality with an eye-catching visual form. Inspired by the sweets of Wedel, Poland’s most renowned confectionery brand, the design features spatial modules that resemble chocolates. Cubes of varying thicknesses in bonbon-like colors guide visitors intuitively through the museum. The natural wood texture evokes dark chocolate, while the colorful tiles resemble confections covered with icing.
The signage system highlights key areas of the building, including the entrance, ticket office, café, store, checkroom, restrooms, and workshop space. Distinctive pictograms and icons, inspired by the museum’s visual identity, enhance navigation, while the carefully chosen materials create a warm, playful atmosphere.
The project was developed in collaboration with Homework studio, which designed the museum’s visual identity.
When Homework studio invited me to develop the wayfinding design, they introduced me to a vibrant graphic world of patterns and icons inspired by Wedel’s iconic sweets. My goal was to translate these ideas into the museum’s physical space. This vision led to the creation of three-dimensional modules of varying thicknesses and colors, resembling a box of chocolates. Choosing the right materials and techniques was key. I proposed solid wood panels, highlighting the natural grain to evoke liquid chocolate. The wood was carefully stained to achieve the perfect shade of brown and create contrast with the text while preserving its unique texture.
Anna Nowokuńska-Maksymiuk
International recognition
The German Design Award, established by the German Design Council in 2012, is one of the most prestigious honors in the field. An international jury recognizes outstanding achievements in aesthetics and functionality that set new trends in design.
Awards are granted in three main categories—Product Design, Communication Design, and Architecture—each divided into specialized subcategories.
The wayfinding system designed by Anna Nowokuńska-Maksymiuk was awarded in the Excellent Architecture – Signage and Wayfinding subcategory.
Credits
Wayfinding system design for the Chocolate Factory E.Wedel museum:
Anna Nowokuńska-Maksymiuk | Studio Blisko | www.studioblisko.pl
Client:
Lotte Wedel
Concept design year:
2020
Final design and implementation year:
2024
Photos:
Studio Blisko
Production and installation of signage:
Oznakuj Biuro
Visual identity design for the E. Wedel Chocolate Factory museum:
Homework
Museum architecture:
BiM Architekci
