The HfG bids fare­well to Prof. Frank Georg Zebner

The HfG mourns the loss of Prof. Frank Georg Zebner, who had deep ties to our univer­sity, where he himself had once studied.

His remar­kable career took shape from an early age: even in his youth, he worked in major cities such as Munich, London and San Fran­cisco for world-leading agen­cies such as frog design and ID TWO (now IDEO). Influenced by his close colla­bo­ra­tion with design pioneers such as Hartmut Esslinger and Bill Moggridge, he turned his focus to the emer­ging field of inter­ac­tion design. In the mid-1990s, as Head of Inter­face and Trans­por­ta­tion Design at Siemens, he was respon­sible for pionee­ring mobi­lity projects and desi­gned visio­nary expe­ri­ences for EXPO 1992 and 2000. Through his own studio, his clients included global brands such as BMW, Audi and Porsche. From 2017 to 2022, as Head of Design, he also deve­loped design stra­te­gies for bult­haup. Zebner’s academic and crea­tive exper­tise enjoyed world­wide reco­gni­tion. He taught as a visi­ting and hono­rary professor at univer­si­ties in Europe, Australia and Asia, and was in high demand on the juries of the industry’s most pres­ti­gious awards, such as the Red Dot Design Award, the iF Design Award and the German Design Award. Most recently, he co-founded the design studio Violet Design GbR with Lina Djouiai and was actively involved as a co-founder of the German Society for Design History (GfDg) and the asso­cia­tion design inclusion.

Despite his varied and inter­na­tional career, his work at the HfG Schwä­bisch Gmünd holds a very special place in our hearts. He was appointed Professor of Product Design and Commu­ni­ca­tion Design at the HfG as early as 1997. As an inspi­ring mentor and lecturer, he has shaped gene­ra­tions of students here. He consis­t­ently demanded and encou­raged ​‘uncom­pro­mi­sing design quality’ from himself and others.

The univer­sity is parti­cu­larly grateful to Frank Zebner for having cham­pioned digi­ta­li­sa­tion in design at a very early stage and imple­mented it to a high stan­dard. He explored the subject in depth and pioneered the inte­gra­tion of this know­ledge into his teaching. For the academic staff and students, he was an immensely important discus­sion partner of outstan­ding profes­sional exper­tise. With his quick wit and his excep­tio­nally precise language, it was always a great plea­sure and highly rewar­ding to engage with him. He enjoyed enga­ging cons­truc­tively with diffe­ring view­points and was held in the highest regard as a colle­ague who relished discus­sion and creativity.

Our deepest sympa­thies go to his family and all those who shared his journey. The HfG will honour Frank Zebner’s memory.

Image source: private