Sieger Design

Company in conjunction with an innovative dynamism - Christian and Michael Sieger, the second generation management that continues to direct the company in the spirit of their father, Dieter Sieger, while reorienting the business towards the provision of a full service.

2003: the changing of the guard
The sons, Christian and Michael Sieger

At the beginning of 2003, the founder of the company, Dieter Sieger, retired from the management of the company. The two companies, sieger design GbR and sieger design Consulting GmbH, merged to become sieger design GmbH & Co KG with the managing partners, Christian and Michael Sieger.

Dieter Sieger will continue to accompany the agency at shareholder level. He has now moved to Münster to dedicate himself to his fourth career - running a gallery for exclusive glass objects by Ettore Sottsass and as art consultant for international industrial companies. New designs for the successful "Dieter Sieger Home Collection" will follow.

Christian and Michael Sieger continue to push the continued professionalization of the technical standards forward. Latest PR and imaging software are now being employed. Expansion of the presentation and office spaces at Schloss Harkotten for a continuously growing team. Increased lecturing activities in Germany and other countries.

The MEM fitting for Dornbracht; "Betty Blue" component system and level basin for Alape. Fiftieth collection for Ritzenhoff. First issue of sieger insight, bi-annual company magazine.


1991 to 2002: full-service business
The family company

From 1991, Christian and Michael Sieger gradually took over the management of the company. Development of sieger design into a full-service agency for industrial design and architecture, graphic design and design management, and public relations and marketing. All-encompassing understanding of design from sketches to market launch and beyond. Work in brand management and corporate culture.

Besides further developments on the sanitation sector, particularly for Duravit (Happy D., 1999, X-Large, 2000 and In the mood, 2002) and Dornbracht (Belle de Jour, 1997, Mobilities, 1998, Belle de Bain, 2000, Yota, 2001, e-Mote, 2001, Metaplasma, 2001), emphasis was also placed on tableware with many collections for Ritzenhoff as well as the successful Tric series (1997) and Cult (1994) for Arzberg.

The company also developed a television for Sony (1998), the Materia line of cutlery for WMF (1999), a crystal bath for Swarovski (1999), professional coffee-making machine for WMF (1992), fireplaces for Skantherm (2000), POS system for WestLotto (2001) and much more.

Creation and broadening of the brand management for Octopus (1997 to 2002) and Ritzenhoff (from 1992). Many exhibitions and design awards, e.g. in 2002 awards by DDC for Blome's makeover, Da vinci presented by Ritzenhoff, Installation Blue for the Futurshow in Bologna, In the mood (Duravit), Meta 0.2 and Domani.02 (Dornbracht).

Publications: "Dieter Sieger - Architekt, Schiffsbauer, Designer" ("Dieter Sieger - Architect, Shipbuilder, Designer") [1994] and "sieger design - Strategien des Erfolgs" ("sieger design - Strategies of Success") [2001], both by Wasmuth Verlag.


1983-1996: finding the form
The designer, Dieter Sieger.

From 1983, initial contact with the sanitation industry through shipbuilding, the development of sanitation objects for the enamel producer Alape in Goslar.

From 1984, awards and prizes for the Lavarlo and Lavarset bathroom lines. Planning of trade-fair stands and showrooms. Discovery of the area of bathrooms modernization as a promising market segment, cooperation with other manufacturers in the sanitation industry.

In 1985, development of the Domani tap for Dornbracht, many design prizes and awards, expansion of the Domani series with Düker.

Up to 1987, development of the Giamo series for Duravit, supplemented by a range of bathroom furniture.

In 1988, founding of sieger design as a company. Restoration of Schloss Harkotten and relocation of the business there.

From 1989, further comprehensive sanitation programmes in cooperation with such manufacturers as Dornbracht, Duravit, Hoesch: Dellarco or Lavilette - and marketing activities beyond the industry, which was an innovation at the time but which is the norm today. Various product series for Dornbracht.
Technical projects and series for Stiebel-Eltron, DAL and Twick & Lehrke.

From 1989, lamps for GKS and Peill & Putzler. First product photographs by sieger design.


1978-1985: sailing before the wind
The shipbuilder, Dieter Sieger.

From 1978, first sailing trips on the Mediterranean, consulting for the interior design of yachts.

In 1980, the design and outfitting of a 42-foot yacht for the famous Anne Wever shipbuilders in s´Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands. The yacht presented at the 1981 Düsseldorf boat fair gave rise to the clear and modern sieger style in yacht design.

From 1981, close cooperation with Anne Wever: individual planning of large sailing and motor yachts for international customers. The 65-foot yacht "Blue Ocean" a public attraction at the "boot ´82" boat show in Düsseldorf.

By 1985, design, planning and interior fitting of more than 30 luxury yachts - architecture for highest demands in the smallest of spaces. Parallel continuous expansion of the firm to more than ten staff, planning and building of other villa projects for wealthy owners.


1965-1980: building on success
The architect, Dieter Sieger.

Training as a builder, studied architecture from 1960. First building projects during his time at university - single-family houses in the Münster region, Marienkapelle in the Ems region.

In 1965, after becoming self-employed, construction of his own house in Münster, prototypical design of a residential architecture characterized by transparency and functionality.

Up to 1969, various single- and multiple-family houses, expansion of the architecture firm. Prize-winning designs for terraced houses for families. Close cooperation with Cobau, Münster.

From 1970, development of single-storey homes with courtyard gardens: development, planning and turnkey construction and marketing of entire residential districts in the Münster region. Partial realization of major projects with more than 160 units. Founding of his own real-estate development company.

From 1975, planning and construction of major villa projects in the Münster region, from the end of the seventies also internationally. Close cooperation with August Heine Baugesellschaft AG, Oberhausen.

Philosophy
Seeing problems as challenges to be solved with great creativity - that's the demand that sieger design places on itself in the provision of personal consulting services to businesses just as much today as it did on its first construction site over 30 years ago. As holistic as the people at sieger design live and work - namely with the entire family and the offices located under a single roof at Schloss Harkotten - that's the way they approach their business.

From initial ideas for the marketing strategy, from draft designs through production development to packaging, from catalogues through sales displays to architecture for trade-fair stands - sieger design has redefined design for itself as an all-encompassing consulting service. This full-service approach reveals the design agency's bandwidth and specific strengths and bundles a range of profound skills that is usually only available from a variety of agencies, service-providers and creatives.

In this light, design is not only the working out of form, but becomes a comprehensive business concept. Christian and Michael Sieger know that design can no longer succeed on its own. That's why they'll also handle the development of entirely new corporate cultures along with brand and design management on behalf of their clients in response to their demands. This is the service they provide, for example, to the glass manufacturer, Ritzenhoff, for whom sieger design has developed more than 50 collections with designs by hundreds of designers from all over the world since 1992 - a network of creative minds offering contact opportunities in many directions and which seeks its equal in this professional quality.

The world of sieger design thus possesses little of the character of a chaotic design studio: the digitally networked offices in the castle are characterized in part by intense creative activities but mostly by cool professionalism. The team is fully networked - design is turned into a data set that is preferably approved for production by modem. While printed matter is created without paper until it reaches the printing machine, porcelain designs are completed and delivered in electronic file formats. This saves time and costs and creates new methods of presentation that still continue to surprise clients of long standing. This has always made sieger design - along with its customers - very successful.