THE DESIGN PRIZE 2021 for best communication goes to six n. five

SIX n. five AWARDED THE DESIGN PRIZE 2021 GOLDEN MADONNINA

ezequiel pini, six n. five founder and winner of THE DESIGN PRIZE 2021 in the category of ‘communication’ receives the golden madonnina trophy at his new studio in barcelona, spain. designboom visited the argentinian artist earlier this month and had the opportunity to talk with him about his personal aesthetic style, his balance between commercial works and purely artistic research, and how NFTs – ownership of digital artworks – are playing a big part in his current career. 

started as an after-work project – the name comes from 6:05, the time when ezequiel could start focusing on his personal business – six n. five is now widely considered a leading voice in the contemporary design scene. he creates fascinating software-generated imagery, rich of details and care for pastel color choice and light distribution. his works have been commissioned by microsoft, samsung, nike, burberry, givenchy and many more. read our recent in-depth interview here.

in the video above, ezequiel pini receives THE DESIGN PRIZE 2021 golden madonnina, talks about his work process and takes us through his recent projects, such as the revolt (2021) a short film where daily objects decide to take over an imaginary, immaculate, high-end apartment.

ezequiel pini receives the golden madonnina, THE DESIGN PRIZE 2021 award statue, in the category ‘communication’. all images © designboom unless stated otherwise.

DESIGNBOOM MEETS EZEQUIEL PINI at his barcelona studio

ezequiel is very interested in the NFTs world, specifically in the way it could equate CGI art with other traditional means. the possibility of buying, collecting and trading digital artworks, as they were paintings or sculptures, could offer new perspectives to photographers, 3D-designers, and everybody who is not creating physical art. he is an early adopter of blockchain technology, and his recent revolt auction on nifty gateway went sold out in less than 10 minutes.

ezequiel shows designboom his recent short film, the revolt, where casual objects take over an immaculate, high-end apartment.

‘usually, after we create our artistic projects, we receive requests from brands who would like to collaborate and build on top of those ideas. our soul is doing our own stuff, we take one or two months just for inspiration, saying no to clients during this time, and afterward, of course, we need to switch back to commercial projects, we need income.’ ezequiel laughs, talking about his studio approach. ‘it is a difficult balance, but in this way we can push both the artistic and the commercial side of our design studio.’

commissioned by style magazine, nyt singapore, this image represents six n. five manifest for a dream-inspired interior. image courtesy of six n. five

detail from ‘georgia building’, a project in collaboration with ricardo bofill taller arquitectura. image courtesy of six n. five.

an outer space apartment from the series what if, which dives into remote human imagination capabilities. image courtesy of six n. five

the golden madonnina – THE DESIGN PRIZE award statuette – already found its place.

THE DESIGN PRIZE is an annual award program that celebrates excellence on a global scale. initiated in 2017 and curated by designboom, with patronage by the city of milan, THE DESIGN PRIZE recognizes both the extraordinary achievements and little sparks of beauty and delight that have emerged over the past 12 months.