The Hochschule Niederrhein's Faculty of Design is presenting the winning cup at the Krefeld Christmas market for the 17th time. This year's lucky winner is Paula Kokot.

The 22-year-old created the cup in the bell design back in the summer and already had Christmas in mind when designing it. "I associate Christmas with presents and surprises, so I wanted to incorporate a surprise into the mug," says Kokot, who is studying design. This refers to a ball that is cleverly incorporated into the mug. The Kerpen-born designer placed particular emphasis on highlighting the symbol of the bell and did without a handle in the design. "This gives the cup an unobtrusive symbolism and a clear design language," confirms graduate designer Knut Michalk, who supervised the course in which the students designed the cups.

Paula Kokot developed the design as part of a model-making course during the past summer semester and was awarded the prize for the winning design by Krefeld's Lord Mayor Frank Meyer at the end of November. "I was surprised at first and was really pleased that my design was chosen, as I was only in my second semester when I designed the cup. The competition was also very strong," says Kokot, referring to second-placed Kathrin Holl and Tasja Schobe, who came third in the competition.

To celebrate the 650th anniversary of the city of Krefeld, Paula Kokot's Christmas mug is being offered in a limited edition of 650 pieces. The mug is available for 9.90 euros at the city marketing hut at the "Made in Krefeld" Christmas market on Dionysiusplatz and at "Lechner + Hayn".

The traditional presentation of the Christmas mug marked the opening of the Christmas market, where students from The Hochschule Niederrhein's Faculty of Design once again presented impressive designs. With her mug, Paula Kokot sets a clear example of timeless design and the successful combination of innovation and tradition.