Assigned by the Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen in Essen, Germany, the award casts the limelight onto the design masterpieces from all over the world, every year since 1955, and its purpose is to reward exceptional quality and innovative excellence in the sphere of product design. The 2012 edition saw the participation of designers and manufacturers from 58 different countries, for a total of 4,515 products presented and assessed by an influential jury consisting of a panel of high-ranking international design experts, who rewarded the unique and innovative design of the Outline bathtub with Hydroline.
 
The awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on 2^nd July 2012 at the Aalto Theater before the most influential personas from the world of design, industry and the media. The venue is also home to the Red Dot museum, which will subsequently be used to host a permanent exhibition of the winning products, which will also be published and illustrated in both the annual Red Dot Yearbook as well as on the www.red-dot.de website.