For 70 years, TEAMS has shaped industries, driven innovation
What began with a clear vision has evolved into a global network shaped by collaboration, curiosity, and shared ambition. Across studios, disciplines, and decades, TEAMS has grown through the collective drive of the people behind it.
Our history is defined by the people, ideas, and milestones that have made TEAMS what it is today. As we celebrate this anniversary, we honor this legacy while continuing to push boundaries and reimagine the future together.
“The world is getting more complex. Good design needs to keep up and work across systems. It has to tell clear stories. Thanks to everyone who has been part of the journey so far. Let’s see where this next story takes us. YES!”
Ulrich Schweig
Global Managing Director
And the next 70 years?
As we celebrate 70 years of TEAMS, our experts reflect on what has shaped design so far and what lies ahead. Inspired by technology, culture, and human needs, they explore a simple question: what will the next 70 years look like?
The TEAMS' Design Story.
1954 – A novel kettle shape transforms the industry for Ritter. Sold 850.000 times.
1957 – First power drill system for Bosch.
1963 – First stationary high pressure cleaners for Kärcher. Design spills over into technical products.
1974 – Sicomatic-S for SILIT was the world’s first pressure cooker with cooking regulator in the handle.
1956 – Zeiss Ikonette. The first 35 mm camera made of plastic.
1958 – Progress "Super 90", vacuum cleaner, corpus made out of plastic for the first time.
1960 – LEIFHEIT Rotaro. One of the most sold carpet sweepers in Germany. The claim? "Do you also have as much free time as I do?"
1975 – The Edding 1700 becomes a bestseller thanks to its corn-yellow color and perfect writing properties.
1972 – TV camera for Bosch, used to film the Olympic Games in Munich.
1956–1975
Design in every day objects
During Germany’s economic wonder, one bold step, made by Hans Erich Slany, stemming from a passion for solving problems, set the basis for the identity of our design agency. TEAMS from the beginning established that products must be rethought and redesigned to put use, ergonomics and aesthetics at the focus of everyday objects, providing design as added value.
That has been our guiding mission from the beginning, transforming brands into the world famous icons that they are today.
1975 – Josef Pittner, Helmut Scholz, H.E. Slany, Hartmut Hamm and Klaus Schön. Slany Design office, Esslingen.
1975–1990
The new economy
Design, technology & consolidated markets generate new economies & fields of application for design, services & products that were not existing before. From the purely physical, to digital touchpoints of interaction. Design was established as a fixed factor of product quality and influenced trendwise the way products were marketed.
The TEAMS mindset of strategic design to guide brands from focussing on a single product to precise knowledge of complex development processes from idea to realization. TEAMS adapts its services to the new tasks and grows up to 20 people in 1990.
1976 – Bauer Super-8 cine camera A 512 for Bosch Photokino. The world’s best-selling amateur camera.
1982 – Silit golden cooking pot for the store window to attract people into the store.
1985 – Bosch KCM 318 TV camera created with a collar-like frame to rest on both shoulders to protect back pain.
1979 – Leitz Briefkorb 5220. More than two decades hole punches, standing file holders, stackable letter trays, and much more were designed.
1985 – HD 555 Profi for Kärcher, one of the first portable pressure washer, and the associated opening of Kärcher’s end consumer market.
1989 – H.E. Slany with his colleagues Hans-Peter Aglassinger, Klaus Schön and Reinhard Renner. Slany Design Team office, Esslingen.
1990 – Insulated thermal vacuum jug Columbus for LEIFHEIT. The first jug with a one-hand dosing button. Exhibited at the MoMA.
1998 – STILL RXX electric truck concept vehicle exhibited at the Hannover Tradeshow in Germany.
2002 – Kärcher RC 3000 was a robotic vacuum cleaner with a self-service station to keep the robot running for longer periods of time.
2006 – CLAAS with first digital state-of-the-art cockpit and user control unit called „cebis mobile claas“
2010 – Convertible Classmate PC for Intel. A laptop for kids that converts instantly from a clamshell to a tablet PC.
1995 – First compact, long lasting, lighter weight and space saving heating system for Weishaupt.
2001 – The design of a very flat hole punch for the briefcase in 1972 marked the beginning of the collaboration with Leitz and led to an evolution of hole punchers.
2003 – Bosch IXO, the world’s first power tool with a lithium-ion battery revolutionized the market. Sold more than 18 million times.
2006 – Siemens wall controller: first generation of a whole range of different products with the same design.
1990–2010
The connected world
In the 1990s, the world experienced a major change, as the internet begins to boom. More users get connected online, new business models take form in an open global economy. This generates the need to rethink products and services for a global economy.
It requires specialized knowledge of how to bring products into any country, and inspired TEAMS to open new studios all around the globe in Chicago, Shanghai and Hamburg to meet new product & service expansion. TEAMS widens its portfolio with consumer testing, engineering, production support, and grows to 80 people.
TEAMS Design becomes a global design agency by the end of the 90's. Displayed in the image: The Hamburg, Stuttgart, Shanghai and Chicago studios.
2010–2026
From physical products to adaptive experiences
As a new digital dimension augments our lives, objects and services that used to be physically produced and marketed are either virtually experienced or left in the past, changing the meaning of design thoroughly towards strategic, multidisciplinary guidance.
We see ourselves as a global team collaborating on the base of strategic partnership with one studio, clients have access to a global design and strategy expertise. Hence the majority of our projects deal with global products and brands.
2011 – STILL CubeXX created as a vision for the future of intralogistics in the forklift market.
2013 – With the software solution Werum PAS-X MES the company offers the world’s leading Manufacturing Execution System to digitize pharma, biotech and cell and gene factories.
2014 – Dicentis conference system for Bosch Security Systems. A revolutionary IP-based platform for integrated conferencing.
2019 – Rexroth Cobots. Active shuttles and APAS-Assistants for the industry 4.0. Exhibited at the Hannover Tradeshow.
2021 – Dräger REGARD® 3000. A gas detector with advanced usability for the industry 4.0.
2025 – Cyan Robotics ORCA.
A scalable humanoid platform combining AI, robotics, and interaction.
2011 – X-Ray unit: a market success which has put United Imaging on the map as one of the top medical companies in the world.
2018 – P-Care, created for nursing and care services, especially of elderly patients in China.
2019 – The collaboration on this series of charger families, reaffirms Siemens' position as an innovation leader in e-mobility.
2023 – Dräger ODX Design System. Unifies Dräger Safety, Medical and Services into one holistic brand experience.
2025 – Fagus-GreCon PROTECTOR Evolves spark detection into a scalable, data-driven safety experience.
Digital experiences throughout all TEAMS locations.