Marie Reidemeister Award

The inaugural Marie Reidemeister Award, a collaborative initiative between IIID and the Museum of Economics and Social Affairs Vienna (Gesellschafts- und Wirtschaftsmuseum Wien), was launched to recognise outstanding works in Maries understanding of the transformer.

While working at the Wirtschaftsmuseum Otto Neurath began his collaboration with Marie Reidemeister, who would later become his wife. Reidemeister was educated as a physicist, mathematician and also had attended art school. She and fellow senior transformer* Friedrich Bauermeister, organized the information into comprehensible formats, in a role that would be described today as a graphic designer.

Marie explained the work of the transformer: “From the data given in words and figures, a way has to be found to extract the essential facts and put them into picture form. It is the responsibility of the transformer to understand the data, to get all necessary information from the expert, to decide what is worth transmitting to the public, how to make it understandable, and how to link it with general knowledge or with information already given in other charts. In this sense, the transformer is the trustee of the public. He has to remember the rules and to keep them, adding new variations where advisable, at the same time avoiding unnecessary deviations which would only confuse. He has to produce a rough chart in which many details have been decided: title; arrangement, type number, and color of symbol; caption, etc. It is a blueprint from which the artist works.”

By combining IIID’s global perspective with the Wirtschaftsmuseum’s educational, cultural and civic reach, the Marie Reidemeister Award seeks to elevate design that is informed by evidence and grounded in social responsibility, fostering work that makes life more accessible, dignified and equitable for all.
The Marie Reidemeister Award is given across all submissions, regardless of category.

Link to the
Wirtschafts und Gesellschaftsmuseum Wien:
gwm.museum