Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Designs of the year...

I went to the Design Museum to see the Designs of the year award finalists. I was disappointed that the rest of the museum wasn't open on the day I went (why do they not put this on the website!?), but the Design of the year exhibition was, so I had a good look around. It was interesting to see the developments that are being made in a range of different design fields, and how this will translate across design in the future.
I was impressed with the folding plug design, which won the Product award. It is such a clever idea, and really very simple. I am sure it won't be long before this design is picked up by manufacturers for their travel based products.





































The Graphics category wasn't amazing; the nominees felt a little limited and in all honesty, a bit lacking in the design stakes. The winner was the Newspaper Club, a reaction to the all consuming rise of digital media. It enables anyone to create their own newspaper/printed medium using the internet to upload designs, and waiting for a free spot on a printing press. It is an interesting idea, but not exactly 'graphics'. I would consider this more of a digital based system, rather than a graphic solution.


Overall, the exhibition was good. I appreciate all good design, but I felt a little like some of these exhibits had been thrown in for good measure, and to keep all areas of the design industry 'happy'. It will be interesting to see which of the designs really take off, and which are less suitable for the mass market.


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