Judges Committee

The panel of judges changes annually, corresponding to the field for which the award is granted. Each judging panel consists of significant and leading figures in the local design field, including designers with established portfolios, curators, researchers, and industry leaders. Five local judges will be joined by a distinguished international figure and a representative from the Edmund de Rothschild Foundation.

In the first stage, the local judging panel will review all received submissions and select the final 22 candidates for the award (Shortlist). To maintain the integrity of the judging process, the identities of the judges will remain confidential until the completion of this stage.

In the second judging stage, the local panel will be joined by prominent international figures in the field of visual communication, along with the committee chair, Baroness Ariane de Rothschild. The announcement of the winners and the award ceremony will take place towards the end of 2024.

Steering Committee

The Edmond de Rothschild Design Award was formulated by a professional Steering Committee, the members of whom reflect diverse approaches from different fields, generations and institutions within the local design industry.

Adv. Tal Sagi Faran

Managing Director of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation (Israel)

Adv. Tal Sagi Faran serves as the CEO of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation in Israel and acts as Secretary for the Foundation and its subsidiaries. In this role, she is responsible for the corporate governance of the group.

Tal joined the Foundation in January 2009.

Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as an attorney at the law firm Efrati Galili Ben-Hur Tsuk & Co. (1997–2011).

Tal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Literature and Philosophy from Tel Aviv University (1997) and an LL.B. in Law from Reichman University (formerly IDC Herzliya) (2003).

Galit Gaon

Senior Design Curator, Chair of Judging Committee

Gaon is a senior design curator and researcher. Head of the Curatorial Design Program at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art, and Head of the Shenkar Design Research Center. She has initiated and curated hundreds of exhibitions in various fields, and accompanies designers, curators, researchers, institutions and local councils in content development and cultural programs.

Gaon formerly served as chief curator of both the Israeli Cartoon Museum and at the Design Museum Holon for their first decade. Gaon is a senior faculty member at Shenkar, a lecturer at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and other academic institutions in Israel and worldwide. Gaon is involved in public and commercial cultural projects, and serves on various committees for the advancement of design in Israel and worldwide.

Prof. Ezri Tarazi

Designer and Researcher, Chair of the Industrial Design Graduate Program at the Technion

Tarazi is an Industrial designer, researcher, writer and theorist in areas of design and design thinking. He is a senior lecturer at the Technion, chair of Design-Tech Lab, chair of the Industrial Design Program and t-Hub, the Technion’s entrepreneurship and innovation center. He founded the Master’s Program in Industrial Design at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and formerly served as Head of the Department for undergraduate studies in Industrial Design.

Tarazi is a member of the Council for Higher Education and consults to government bodies on industry and education. He is a co-founder of the Israeli IDEO branch and a partner in technological ventures. He established the d-Vision Internship Program in collaboration with Keter Group and founded Tarazi Studio, which specializes in strategic consultation to companies in design thinking and the development of consumer and high-tech products. Tarazi’s work has been exhibited in world-class museums, fairs and galleries around the world.

Prof. Adi Stern

President of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design

President of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
Stern has been President of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design since 2015. From 2008–2015, he served as the head of Bezalel's Department of Visual Communication. Stern is a graphic designer, type designer, and a design lecturer and educator. He also writes, consults and lectures on the design and history of the Hebrew letter. His work has been exhibited in numerous exhibitions and has won awards in Israel and around the world.

Prof. Sheizaf Rafaeli

President of Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art

President of Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art
Rafaeli was elected for presidency of Shenkar and commence his service since April 2020. He was recently head of the Internet Lab at the University of Haifa, and is a Senior Research Associate in the Samuel Neaman Institute for National Policy in the Technion. He served two terms as the Director of the Graduate School of Business at the University of Haifa, where he led the department of Business Administration, and took part in establishing the departments of Knowledge and Information Management and the Management of Natural Resources and Environment.

Rafaeli was responsible for founding the Faculty of Management at the University of Haifa. Earlier, he created and headed the Information Systems Area in the Hebrew University's School of Management. Sheizaf's PhD. Is from Stanford University, where he studied and served as faculty as well. He is interested in the managerial, educational, social, business and political aspects of information systems, as well as in literacy, opportunities and digital gap issues.

Prof. Terry Schreuer

Dean of the Faculty of Design, the Azrieli School of Design at Shenkar

Prof. Schreuer is a versatile designer and educator. From 2000 to 2013, she served as the head of the Visual Communication Department at the Academic Center for Design and Visual Communication in Haifa. In 2012, she was appointed the first female professor of visual communication in the country, by the Council for Higher Education.

Prof. Schreuer began her career as a designer in Hava Mordechovich's studio and later became a partner in the studio. Among other things, she founded her own studio in Haifa and worked as a senior designer at Conran Design Group in London.
She is known for her works that maintain a constant dialogue between the two-dimensional and three-dimensional dimensions Prof. Schreuer designs spaces, logos, packaging, calendars, books, posters, and more. Prof. Schreuer served as a judge in the award of 2020.

Maya Vinitsky

Design Curator at Tel Aviv Museum, Lecturer

Vinitsky is a curator at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in the Department of Architecture and Design. Vinitsky is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design.

Anat Safran

Curator, Designer and Artistic Director

Safran is a curator, designer and artistic director. She initiated and curated the Pecha Kucha Nights in Tel Aviv. Between 2016-2022 she was the artistic director of the Jerusalem Design Week. Safran holds an MA in Art from the Haute École des arts du Rhin in Strasbourg, France. Safran is a member of the Arts Council of the Israel State Lottery.

2024 Judges of Visual Communication Design Award

Baroness Ariane de Rothschild

Chairwoman of the Edmond de Rothschild Group

She began her career in New York in the 1990s at Société Générale and AIG, after completing her MBA at Pace University. In 2015, she took the helm of the Edmond de Rothschild Bank, transforming it into a banking group focused on conviction-driven investments.

Under her leadership, the group places special emphasis on impact investments, combining her expertise in emerging markets and experience in philanthropy. The Baroness has driven a significant shift in the bank's investment approach, prioritizing social and environmental responsibility, while continuing to develop the group's activities in wine, agriculture, and hospitality.

Prof. Marcel Benčík

International guest judge of the committee, Designer, educator, and researcher

A Slovakian designer, educator, and researcher specializing in graphic design. Graduate and current Professor at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava, heading the Department of Visual Communication and Dean of International Studies.

Freelance graphic designer since 2002 (studio dr.benčík). Former designer for Stanica Žilina-Záriečie cultural center (2003-2007) and organizer of KUPÉ graphic design conference (2005-2011). Visiting lecturer at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice since 2013. Combines design practice with teaching, publishing, and research in the field of graphic design.

Prof. Tomasz Bierkowski

International guest judge of the committee, Designer, consultant, researcher, and lecturer

A Polish designer, consultant, researcher, academic lecturer and design critic. Specializes in designing scientific and popular science publications, as well as visual identities. Author of books on typography, including "O typografii" (2008) and "Typografia dla humanistów" (2018, co-authored).

Conducts design workshops at firms and universities in Poland and abroad. Writer of articles on typography and visual communication for scientific publications and specialist press internationally. Co-authored "Six Lessons in Typography at RISD" (2021).

Prof. Anat Katsir

Designer, lecturer. Specializes in developing digital age journalistic products

Professor in the Visual Communication department at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design. Specializes in developing journalistic products for the digital age and organizing complex information systems.

Graduated with honors from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Visual Communication department and holds a master's degree in architecture and urban culture from CCCB/UPC, Barcelona. Served as chief graphic editor for leading Israeli newspapers. Her work has won numerous awards and influenced newspaper design in Israel.

Gideon Amichay

Advertiser, cartoonist, designer. Award-winning creator and author

Advertiser, cartoonist, designer, and author. Graduated with honors from Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Visual Communication department. His final illustration project was published in The New Yorker.

Co-CEO and CCO at Shalmor Avnon Amichay Y&R (1994-2011). Founder of the creative company No, No, No, No, No, Yes (2013-). Won numerous awards, including Cannes Lions, Clio Awards, and D&AD. Author of the books "No, No, No, No, No, No, No, Yes" and "The ABCs of Gimel".

Orna Granot

Curator, researcher, and lecturer specializing in illustration history

Curator, researcher, and lecturer specializing in the history of illustration and children's book illustration. Curator of children's book illustration and manager of the Illustration Library at the Youth Wing of the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Lecturer at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design and Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art.

Chair of the Israel Museum's Children's Book Illustration Award committee and judge in international illustration competitions. Curated numerous exhibitions, including the Israeli pavilion in Bologna (2014). Holds advanced degrees in children's literature and art history.

Michael Gordon

Graphic designer, typographer and print producer

Graphic designer, typographer, and print producer.
Graduated from Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design's Graphic Design department in 1984. Senior lecturer at Bezalel's Visual Communication department and senior faculty member at Shenkar College of Engineering, Design and Art since 2014.

Designed and produced over 400 books and catalogs in Israel and abroad, spanning contemporary art, architecture, cinema, literature, and exhibition design.
Nominated for the 2020 Edmond de Rothschild Design Award for Established Visual Communication Designers.

Guy Saggee

Graphic designer, lecturer. Winner of the Edmond de Rothschild Design Award in 2020

Independent graphic designer, senior lecturer, and faculty member at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design's Visual Communication department.
Saggee’s long career, spanning 25 years, included local and international exhibitions, numerous publications, conference speaking, and awards.

The projects he selects are intentionally diverse and varied, so as to challenge his mindset and find new alternatives and solutions each time. In 2020, Saggee was awarded the Edmond de Rothschild Design Award in the Established designer category, for his significant contributions to the field of visual communication design.

2022 Judges of Textile, Fashion & Jewelry Design Award

Baroness Ariane de Rothschild

Chairwoman of the Edmond de Rothschild Group

Mr. Jaime Hayon

Artist and designer, International guest judge of the committee

(b.1974) A Spanish artist and designer who set up his own studio in 2000, Jamie Hayon has designed countless pieces of furniture, lighting fixtures and home accessories, hotel interiors, retail shops, a line of ceramics, shoes and his own collection of timepieces.

With designs showcased in prominent museums around the world, Hayon is at the forefront of a new wave of talents blurring the lines between art, decoration and design.

Ms. Neora Warshavsky

Senior textile designer

(b.1928) Senior textile designer, Among her work are textiles for fashion designers such as Fini Leitersdorf, Gideon Oberson, Jerry Melitz, House of Dior, Yves St. Laurent, Cardin, etc.
From 1959–1987 she served as textile designer and production manager of the weaving department of couture brand “Maskit.”

During this period, she created a variety of woven fabrics in various materials. During her career, designed national projects in Israel, Ireland, Guatemala and others. In addition, she served as the Chair of the Israeli Association of Creative Arts (1986-2004). In 2014 she published a book, Neora Warshavsky: The Lucid Weaver.

Mr. Gideon Oberson

Senior fashion designer

(b.1943) Senior fashion designer, well known locally and internationally for his modernist aesthetics. Designed iconic looks for various events, film, campaigns and formal institutions, as Creative director for Gottex (2002-2009) and in the fashion house that carries his name.

Prof. Dganit Stern Schocken

Established jewelry designer, Senior lecturer at Shenkar Academy

(b.1947) Established jewelry designer, Senior lecturer at Shenkar Academy. Started the Jewelry design department at Shenkar, served as Head for 9 years, and followed to serving as Head of the Masters program.

As an important voice in the jewelry design field, award winning designer, and her works exhibited in museums and collections.

Dr. Omri Goren

Fashion designer, senior lecturer at Bezalel Academy

(b.1981) Fashion designer, senior lecturer at Bezalel Academy. Goren worked as a head designer in Paris (2004-2008) and presented in six fashion weeks. Finished his doctoral studies at the Sorbonne in Paris (2013).

Established his studio in 2009 and since then has been developing material and design research that combines a variety of disciplines. His fashion and jewelry studio presenting in Israel and internationally.

Ms. Lea Peretz

Fashion researcher, art historian, Senior Lecturer at Shenkar Academy

(b.1949) Fashion researcher, art historian, Senior Lecturer at Shenkar Academy. Previously Head of the Fashion Design Department (1993-2019), a department ranked as one of the best 10 worldwide.

Served as cultural attaché of the Israeli Embassy in Bogota, and as a lecturer at El Rosario University. As of 2006, she is serving in the Board of Directors of Delta Galil Industries.

2021 Judges of Product & Object Design Award

Baroness Ariane de Rothschild

Chairwoman of the Edmond de Rothschild Group

Ms. Renate Menzi

Curator of the Design Collection of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich, International guest judge of the committee

Curator of the Design Collection of the Museum für Gestaltung Zürich since 2008. Trained as a product designer and in cultural studies at the Zurich University of the Arts and the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Teaches, publishes, and conducts research in the field of design, and was a member of the Swiss Federal Design Commission 2009–2017.

Exhibitions and publications: 6 Rooms × 6 Positions, 2021; Ideal Living, 2018; 100 Years of Swiss Design, 2014; Freitag: Out of the Bag, 2012; Make up, 2010.

Prof. Dina Shahar

Designer, Senior Lecturer, Hadassah Academic College

Senior Lecturer and Academic Consultant at Hadassah’s Department of Inclusive Industrial Design; headed the department in 2010–2018.
Her academic and pedagogical work focuses on the development and implementation of inclusive and social design methods, fields which she writes and lectures about in various conferences and forums in Israel and around the world.

She has initiated and promoted pioneering collaborations in the Design for Healthcare field with hospitals and medical services, including projects to optimize patient experience and rehabilitation processes. Simultaneously, she is engaged in commissioned public-space projects, working with leading European companies specializing in outdoor lighting and furniture, as well as site-specific projects for museums, housing for older adults, and cultural institutions in China.

Mr. Yoav Ziv

Industrial Designer, Senior Lecturer, Shenkar

An industrial designer and Senior Lecturer at Shenkar, who specializes in the field of toys and whose work blends humanistic and realistic elements – which form the basis of his activities. An active designer, researcher, inventor, entrepreneur, and educator, he headed Shenkar's Department of Industrial Design from 2014 to 2020.

Ziv's professional activity spans three decades, alongside teaching and the establishment the academic field of knowledge in Israel. Toys and children's products that rely on mathematical, physical and geometric motifs created by Ziv have been registered worldwide as patents or as registered designs, exhibited at international professional exhibitions, manufactured and distributed around the world by leading international companies.

Ms. Hadar Shapira

Industrial Designer, Senior Lectrer, Bezalel

A member of Bezalel Academy of Art and Design’s faculty, who has served as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design for 35 years, where she leads the field of ‘Human Body–Technology Interface’.

Shapira holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial design from Bezalel and a master’s degree from Tel Aviv University’s Department of Film and Television. With 37 years of industrial design experience in Israel, she focuses on the design and development of wearable technology products for the fields of medicine, functional assistance, sports, and quality of life.

Prof. David Rawet

Industrial Designer and Dean of HIT’s Faculty of Design

An industrial designer, entrepreneur, Dean of the Faculty of Design at Holon Institute of Technology (HIT).
Since graduating from Bezalel’s Department of Industrial Design (in 1977), has been an active designer in wide and diverse fields of design in Israel and abroad, through Rawet Design, the industrial design company he founded. Has been involved in more than 700 projects, winning numerous international design awards. He specializes in the design of medical devices and has designed for some of the leading medical device companies worldwide.

In recent years, he serves as a design development strategic consultant for companies in Israel and abroad. For the past decade, he has co-owned (with his daughter) “Industrial Jewelry” – a subsidiary company for jewelry and accessory design for women and men, operating in England. The company’s creations are sold globally, including by some of the world’s most distinguished museums’ shops.

Ms. Shlomit Bauman

Artist, Researcher, Lecturer and Head Curator, Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center

Shlomit Bauman is ceramic artist who addresses research aspects of the ceramic design field, which draw their inspiration from cultural, technological, traditional, and methodological questions. She refers to ceramic design as a field of research in the realm of culture studies, examining its methods in the greater context of material culture.

Her work is a comprehensive field of activity in which art, research, curatorship, and education on matter and material culture coincide as a way of life. She is the Head Curator of Benyamini Contemporary Ceramics Center, Tel Aviv, and a Senior Lecturer at Holon Institute of Technology’s Industrial Design Department.

2020 Judges of Visual Communication Design Award

Baroness Ariane de Rothschild

Chairwoman of the Edmond de Rothschild Group

Mr. Andrea Amichetti

Design editor and curator, International guest judge of the committee

Andrea Amichetti is a designer, editor, curator, and publisher in the field of design. He founded and heads the Italian ZERO magazine, est. 1996, which promotes culture in Italy’s major urban centers in collaboration with leading museums and cultural institutions, including the Milan Triennale, MAXXI in Rome, Fondazione Prada, and others. The magazine is especially known for its innovative design and covers.

Alongside the magazine, Amichetti has written, edited, and published books on design and visual communication, curated exhibitions, and guides in various media. An influential figure in the European, and especially the Italian, visual communication sphere, in the last two decades, Amichetti favors collaborating with art directors and designers with an innovative approach in the field of visual communication.

Prof. Terry Schreuer

Senior designer and lecturer at WIZO Haifa

Mr. Itzik Rennert

Illustrator, senior lecturer at Shenkar

Itzik Rennert is an illustrator, a comic book creator, and an artist. He has worked as designer in the press in leading media channels in Israel, including in creating illustrations and cartoons in multiple national newspapers. He was a member of the Actos comics illustrators group, illustrated children’s books, and served as the art director of large advertising agencies in the country.

His works have been widely exhibited in Israel and abroad.
Rennert served as a senior lecturer and head of the illustration program at Bezalel, headed Shenkar's Department of Visual Communication from 2007–2012 and master's degree program in design between 2016–2019, and is currently a senior lecturer at Shenkar.

Mr. Erez Gavish

Multidisciplinary designer, Head of the Visual Communication Department, Bezalel

Erez Gavish is a multidisciplinary graphic designer, illustrator, and animator. He heads the bachelor's degree program in Bezalel’s Department in Visual Communication. A science fiction aficionado, he also enjoys creating electronic music with modular synthesizers in his free time. His work integrates diverse practices, including illustration, graphic design, typography, animation, code, video, post-production, and special effects.
Alongside his academic work and teaching at Bezalel, Gavish is involved in design and artistic management of a variety of projects in television media, and conducts personal research in the field of design-in-motion.

As founder and creative director of the Primus Design Group, he designed brand visibility, icons, fonts, graphic packaging, opening titles, and interludes for the majority of Israel’s television channels, Gavish developed and designed animated series for children, including ‘Zack & Quack,’ broadcasted in over 180 countries worldwide—for the design of which he was nominated for ASIFA-Hollywood’s Annie Award. He has also designed dozens of brands, television programs, commercials, and promotional films, animated series, games for interactive television, and the user interface of the instant messaging app ICQ.

Mr. Zachi Dinar

Designer and researcher, Head of the Department of Visual Communications Design at the Holon Institute of Technology

An expert in user experience and digital design, Zachi Diner heads the Department of Visual Communication at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT). He is a graduate of HIT’s Faculty of Design and Tel Aviv University’s Department of Philosophy and Digital Culture.
His two decades of professional experience span the fields of digital design, product development for various media, guiding initiatives from concept to implementation, and development of tools and products—from the planning and research stage, through concept design and development, to data analysis.

Diner was previously a partner at Clementina, in which he founded the New Media Department and developed interactive products with major content customers in the U.S., including Warner Brothers, HBO, and Fox Interactive.
In 2003, he founded and served as Creative Director at Balora, a company that specializes in user experience planning and digital product design for all screens types. More recently, he co-founded the social enterprise Mindlly and serves as a creative director at ArtBit. In addition, he provides consultation and mentoring in Microsoft’s Startup Incubator, and is an active participant in the mentoring community of Google Campus.

Ms. Meira Yagid-Haimovich

Chief Design curator, Tel Aviv Museum of Art

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Judging Criteria

The Edmond de Rothschild Design Award is intended to promote excellent Israeli designers who work continuously in the field, creating the volume and quality of a wide-scale and influential body of work that not only expands and formulates the field in which they operate, but also serves and influences the general public and Israeli society. The award focuses on published projects and aims to promote, first and foremost, excellence in design. The judges will examine the volume and quality of work portfolios on the basis of key criteria, which are as follows:

Impact on local design and international activity

The degree and depth by which the designer’s body of work impacts the design field, visual and material Israeli culture, the userbase, production methods and more. Please specify as much as possible the actual impact and presence of the various projects.

Depth of workflow

The entry must include a description of workflows, R&D, various sketches and models. Rich and sincere bodies of work may also present projects that failed or stopped at various stages of development, provided they are accompanied by projects that have been published.

Quality and scope of the portfolio

The various projects will be evaluated in accordance with accepted values in the design field, including functional and aesthetic values, suitability for the user, responsible production method, use of materials, quality of finish, etc. Greater consideration will be given to in-depth work portfolios, whether they show significant expertise in one particular area or in a variety of areas and multidisciplinary work. Consideration will also be given to a focus on the challenges and opportunities in the field and in the local culture.