Press Release
Titanium Coffee Machine by Carl Mertens Wins the Golden A' Design Award in Home Appliances Design
Carl Mertens acknowledged for home appliances design by the international grand jury of the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COMO, Italy, April 15, 2026 /DesignNewswire/ Titanium Coffee Machine by Carl Mertens has been granted the Golden A' Design Award in the Home Appliances Design category, A' Design Award & Competition has announced. The award was conferred within the 2025 - 2026 A' Design Award & Competition and was decided through blind peer review by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members, who evaluated anonymized entries against predetermined criteria.
About the Golden A' Design Award
The Gold A' Design Award is granted to designs that demonstrate a high level of innovation and a significant impact on their intended audience. Recognized as a major achievement by the A' Design Awards, these designs are characterized by their visionary approach and the exceptional skill of their creators. Winners of the Gold A' Design Award are noted for their ability to push the envelope in art, science, design, and technology, delivering solutions that not only meet but exceed expectations. These designs serve as benchmarks for excellence, encouraging further innovation and inspiring future generations of designers.
About Titanium Coffee Machine
Titanium is a compact semiautomatic coffee machine made for kitchens with limited counter space. The rounded body is injection molded and painted in a low saturation cyan, then accented with brushed stainless steel. A transparent display zone and lighting effects show the machine status clearly. Portafilter alignment indicator lights guide precise placement. The shower screen and filter basket are made of pure titanium, which is antibacterial and corrosion resistant. A removable grinding unit simplifies cleaning and maintenance.
About Carl Mertens
In 1919, the CARL MERTENS brand was born in Solingen, Germany, the global capital of cutting tools. Named after its founder, CARL MERTENS has always adhered to stringent quality standards and the traditional German craftsmanship, thereby gaining widespread recognition and an excellent reputation. Now entering the Chinese market, CARL MERTENS uses the eagle from the German national emblem as its brand logo, with the Chinese name “Three-Headed Eagle”. Combining stylish design with cutting-edge technology, this brand brings a youthful and dynamic element to luxury products, creating high-end kitchenware designed specifically for Chinese consumers.
Award Record
Carl Mertens is a winner of 1 A' Design Award, including this recognition.
About the A' Home Appliances Design Award
The A' Home Appliance Design Award is an international competition recognizing good home appliance designs by best appliance designers and brands worldwide. The competition is organized within the A' Design Award & Competition and is open to home appliance designers, industrial designers, product engineers and appliance brands from all countries. Entries typically include refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines, dryers and ovens. Awarded home appliance designs are published at https://desingers.org/design-category/home-appliance
About A' Design Award & Competition
A' Design Award & Competition is an international, juried design accolade organized annually since 2008. The competition is open to entries from all countries. The A' Design Award has a philanthropic mission to advance society through good design by recognizing and promoting superior products, projects and services that benefit society, and by creating a global awareness and appreciation for good design practices and principles. Entries are peer reviewed and anonymously evaluated by an international grand jury panel of established academics, design professionals and press members against predetermined criteria such as functionality, ergonomics, engineering, presentation, innovation, usability, sustainability and technology, with score normalization applied to remove biases. Awards are conferred at Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron levels. The A' Design Prize granted to eligible laureates includes the award trophy, the certificate of design excellence, the hardcover yearbook, a lifetime license to use the A' Design Award winner logo, exhibition of awarded works, an invitation to the gala night and award ceremony in Italy, inclusion in the World Design Rankings and Designer Rankings, and public relations and publicity services. Registration, the upload of a work and the preliminary score are free of charge, and Professional and Digital Edition laureates are not contractually obliged to pay further fees to claim the A' Design Prize. Further information is available at https://competition.adesignaward.com
Press Resources
- Winner Page: https://desingers.org/181848
- A' Design Award Page: https://competition.adesignaward.com/181848
- Media Showcase: https://www.designnewsroom.com/!181848
- Laureate Profile: https://desingers.org/d/380551
Media Contact
Giulia Ferrari, Press Office
Designers.Org
Via Leone Leoni 32, 22100 Como, Italy
press@designers.org
+39 031 4491953
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Fact Sheet
The Work
- Project
- Titanium Coffee Machine
- Function
- Coffee Machine
- Category
- Home Appliances Design
- Discipline
- Industrial Design
- Industry
- Electronics & Appliances and Furniture & Home
- Colors
- Light Slate Gray, Gainsboro, Brown, Dark Red and Dim Gray
- Images
- 5
The Recognition
- Laureate
- Carl Mertens
- Country
- China
- Recognition
- Golden A' Design Award
- Edition
- 2025 - 2026
- Design ID
- #181848
Credits
- Team
- Heping Zhou, Jijia Wu and Guitao Mei
Design Details
- Unique Properties
- This compact semiautomatic coffee machine breaks from the traditional boxy form, combining rounded vintage lines with modern lighting effects to create distinct retrofuturistic aesthetics. Features such as a transparent display zone, portafilter alignment indicator lights, and a removable grinding unit simplify operation and elevate user experience. The overall design allows coffee enthusiasts to enjoy a professional, convenient, and ritualistic coffee making experience even in limited spaces.
- Inspiration
- The exterior draws on the mechanical aesthetics of classic Italian espresso machines with a distinct pressure gauge while integrating modern home aesthetics through a rounded body and a silver track, perfectly balancing vintage charm with contemporary technological appeal. An elegant low saturation cyan body accented with brushed stainless steel reinforces both professional quality and modern style.
- Research
- Research shows the demand for professional grade coffee is steadily rising, yet urban kitchens often lack sufficient counter space for traditional large coffee machines. This product balances space efficiency and professional performance. With removable components and a compact layout, it preserves core features like professional extraction pressure while reducing its size, bringing professional coffee making into a compact space and delivering a premium coffee making experience.
- Challenge
- The main challenge was to maintain the core performance of professional coffee machines while reducing overall size. The design team addressed this by reorganizing the internal structure with a modular layout to ensure stable extraction pressure within a compact form. The removable grinding unit successfully balances ease of disassembly with consistent grinding performance, allowing the small coffee machine to deliver professional level performance comparable to larger machines.
- Realization and Technology
- The body is injection molded, polished, and spray painted for a smooth texture and an elegant cyan color. Drip tray and group head are made of brushed and polished stainless steel for a professional look. Key parts including shower screen and filter basket are made of pure titanium, which is antibacterial and corrosion resistant, ensuring safety. The top transparent bean hopper and removable grinding unit show coffee bean status, preventing clogging and facilitating cleaning and maintenance.
- Operation and Interaction
- The transparent display zone and lighting effects make information and machine status immediately clear. Portafilter alignment indicator lights guide precise placement, simplifying operation. Dual wide angled, ergonomically tilted, antislip detent side levers improve extraction pressure control while the short throw steam lever reduces the risk of scalding. The removable portafilter base supports based and baseless use, while the drip tray with vortex pattern shows the place for cups.
- Project Duration and Location
- The project was initiated in April 2025 in Jinhua, Zhejiang. The design is expected to be completed by April 2026, with its first public presentation scheduled at the CARL MERTENS Distributor Conference. Full production will then begin in June 2026 in Jiangmen, Guangdong.
- Keywords
- Retrofuturistic Aesthetics, Transparent Display Zone, Interactive Lighting, Pure Titanium Antibacterial Components, Removable Grinding Unit, Professional Experience, Compact and Space Friendly
