Statement
“A brand experience without aesthetics is just a fleeting snapshot.” Everything has become faster. The pandemic was a booster for all areas of experiential communication and the evolution of AI’s a catalyst for creation and information. Our job as designers is therefore more important than ever: to put people at the centre and curate aesthetics. We are the ones who make an event an experience. For me, being part of a jury therefore also means being part of an interdisciplinary community. A community that learns from each other and appreciates respectfully.”

Statement
“Space be it physical or virtual can be used as a powerful storytelling medium to create multi-sensory narrative experiences that provoke thought, encourage exploration and stimulate emotions.”

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The WORLD has changed, the ECONOMY has changed and the PEOPLE have changed. Change and transformation create opportunities for a sustainable future and the further development of our competences.
I am very excited to see how the industry has dealt with the change process and what great and award-winning works have come out of it.

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In the spirit of our motto, I am looking forward to…exchanging ideas with you and learning from our shared experiences.
Finding personalities who set new standards for human-brand interaction.
Driving positive change in an ever-changing world.We pioneer motion.

Statement
In 2019, I was able to actively shape the BrandEx Award as a jury member for the first time. It is therefore a great pleasure for me to be able to contribute to the development of the format in 2024. The exciting project submissions are a source of inspiration for me and point the way forward for the industry. I would like to focus on the technical perspective of events and contribute my expertise in technical planning and implementation.

VITA
Milka Quasten has been a project manager with a focus on trade fairs at Neumann & Müller Veranstaltungstechnik since 2018 and has also taken over the trade fair planning office in Frankfurt as location coordinator since 2023.
Her love of rope-supported stunts and scenic staging drew her attention to the profession of event technician.
After completing her training as an event technician, she worked for several years as a self-employed lighting technician, lighting operator and rigger. Her drive for personal development led her to the position of project manager and location coordinator at N&M.

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VITA
During his years of study for ‘Interface Culture’ in Austria and at the ‘International Academy for Media Arts and Sciences’ in Japan, Timm Wilks became involved early on with the field of tension between design, technology, interactivity and experience. After numerous international exhibitions in the field of interactive art, he worked for various renowned agencies and designed museums, brandlands and shows. As creative director at Schmidhuber, he dimensions brands and makes use of all the possibilities of the digital as well as the analogue world.

Statement
At the beginning of every good concept we should look at people and their needs. Our aspiration should not be to build works of art to be admired, but stages on which people can communicate, share experiences and create memories. Places that our customers can make their own: Spaces where people can encounter our clients’ brands on all levels: emotional, informative, inspiring, interactive and personal. As designers, we should help our clients take the next step, should try to move people with our ideas, should create places where things move. In this sense, I am looking forward to moving projects and inspiring exchanges with colleagues. I feel honoured.

VITA
After studying interior design at the Blocherer Schule in Munich from 2003 to 2006, I came to communication in space rather by chance – and stuck with it enthusiastically: from 2007 to 2012, my first job was at Rappenglitz Messebau west of Munich. In search of inspiration and an employer who is conceptually strong, I switched to Atelier Seitz in 2013, where I took on the position of Creative Director in 2018.

Statement
Good design is challenging, emotional and passionate.
Being part of a jury that assigns the appropriate appreciation to outstanding projects is always both a highlight and an honour for me. In this way, we give the people “behind” the project the confirmation they deserve, and thus also shape the future together.
I look forward to the colleagues, first-class projects, inspiring discussions and the award.

VITA
Freddy Justen is co-founder and managing director of the D’art Design Group. He studied product design at the Institut des Beaux Arts de Saint-Luc, Liège Belgium and started as a designer for trade fair architecture. In 1991, together with partners, he founded the D’art Design Gruppe as an interdisciplinary design agency with a focus on communication in space. Since then, he has played a decisive role in shaping the agency’s more than 30 years of expertise in brand experience and translating brands into temporary and permanent experiential spaces.
Freddy Justen is a member of the Art Director Club Germany and teaches exhibition architecture at the Peter Behrens School of Arts at Düsseldorf University of Applied Sciences.

Statement
At the interface of zeitgeist and technological possibilities, architecture forms the framework for social action and at the same time always expresses an attitude. The BrandEx Award offers an exciting and relevant platform for the exchange of spatial concepts with a focus on communication and experience and provides a framework for taking stock and looking to the future.

VITA
Chris is an architect, computational designer and educator based in Berlin, Germany. He was trained as an architect at several Universities in Germany. He graduated from KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) with honors and as best of his class.
He is Partner at the Laboratory for Visionary Architecture – LAVA in Berlin, an international practice for architecture and urban design with offices in Berlin, Sydney, Stuttgart and Ho Chi Minh City with a total of about 100 staff.
Amongst his more recent projects are the German Pavilion for the EXPO 2020 in Dubai, UAE, that has been awarded multiple awards (Best Pavilion, Peoples Choice Award, Best Architecture), the German Pavilion for the EXPO 2025 in Osaka – a fully circular and low carbon structure, a mixed- use High-Rise development in Hangzhou, China with two 280m tall towers, a circular and low-carbon commercial park in Lingen, Germany that merges contemporary workplaces with high quality recreational spaces.
In parallel to his professional work Chris currently holds teaching positions at KIT – Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, CIEE Global University, Berlin and the University of Applied Sciences, Kaiserslautern.
He lectures widely in Germany, Europe, China and Middle East, his work with LAVA has been internationally published and exhibited (above all Biennale Venice, Biennale Landscape Architecture Barcelona) and received national and international awards (above all European Prize for Architecture, Chicago Atheneum).Chris takes a leading role in both the design and delivery of challenging design projects. His diverse range of experience in varying climates has led to an extensive accumulated knowledge of effective sustainability and performance driven strategies. His design approach seeks to blend contextual concerns with innovative formal and material solutions.He often employs sophisticated generative modelling and scripting techniques to develop adaptive and fully parametric models which integrate the various requirements by user, functionality and context. The resulting design models provide multi-performative architectural solutions which handle the complexity of multi-factorial demands and diverse environments of the present and often reach out into the future as an enabler/catalyst.Chris also uses advanced tools to link complexity of form with the evolving design documentation and manufacturing processes to enable a seamless exchange of information between the design team and fabricators.

Statement
In recent years, the BrandEx Award has established itself as one of the most important prizes in live communication with international appeal. Therefore, it is an honour for me to be appointed to the jury this year. I will approach this task with honour and responsibility and look forward to an inspiring and lively exchange.

VITA
Daniel Naegele studied media and graphic design at the DHBW Ravensburg and the London College of Communication. He worked as a designer and art director in interdisciplinary offices such as Jangled Nerves and Blackspace, then in leading positions at Sixt, Uniplan and Mutabor. Currently, Daniel Naegele is the managing director of Wecause, where he focuses on activating brands in the disciplines of architecture, design, content and digital. The results are brand experience worlds, trade fairs and events, shops and showrooms, exhibitions as well as cross-over activities for companies and organisations of all sizes and sectors. His work has received numerous international design awards.