Designs of the Year is the London Design Museum’s annual exploration of the most innovative, interesting and forward-looking work in design of all kinds from around the world. The nominated designs fall into seven categories: architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, product and transport.
The winners in each category and the overall Design of the Year will be revealed at the Awards event on April 24. All nominees can be seen in the Designs of the Year 2012 exhibition showing at the Design Museum until July 4.
Designer Ilse Crawford has been announced as Chair of Jury for the Designs of the Year 2012. Crawford will decide the winners in each category and overall Design of the Year with fellow panel members: Dutch designer Hella Jongerius, Chairman of the Canary Wharf group Sir George Lacobescu, Wallpaper* editor-at-large Henrietta Thompson and entrepreneur Evgeny Lebedev. The category winners and winning design will be revealed at the awards event at the Design Museum on 24 April 2012.
Crawford is a brand consultant and principal of Studioilse. She is also founding head of department for Man and Well Being at the world-renowned Design Academy Eindhoven. In 2001, Ilse set up her design company Studioilse, addressing the way we experience the world around us emotionally, physically, sensorially and subliminally. She has built a number of award winning brands, including the vision and design identity behind the Soho House group, and the inn brand. A prominent public speaker, design commentator, author and curator, Ilse has a definitive voice on design for positive change.
Jongerius is known for the special way she fuses industry and craft, high and low tech, tradition and the contemporary. After graduating Eindhoven Design Academy in 1993 she founded her own design company, Jongeriuslab through which she produces her own projects and for clients such as Maharam , Royal Tichelaar Makkum, IKEA, KLM and Vitra. Her work has been shown at museums and galleries such as the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, MoMA, Design Museum, Galerie kreo and Moss gallery.
Lacobescu is recognized as the largest inner city regeneration project in the world and has become the centre of London’s third business district within three retail malls and 20 acres of landscaped open spaces. He was awarded a Knight Bachelor for services to charity, community and the financial services industry in the New Year Honours list 2012.
Lebedev is the Chairman of the Evening Standard Ltd and Independent Print Ltd, which he bought in January 2009 and March 2010 respectively. He is an entrepreneur and philanthropist with business interests in hotels, publishing, property, film and fashion. Lebedev founded The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation in 2006 with Mikhail Gorbachev. The Foundation raises funds for better treatment of children suffering with cancer in Russia, supporting world-class research and care facilities.
Thompson has held senior editing roles at TANK, Blueprint, Dazed & Confused, Winkreative and Phaidon. Henrietta also holds much expertise and experience in the luxury industries and writes regularly about architecture, art, design, business and travel for several publications internationally. She is the author of five books, most recently Remake It, published by Thames & Hudson.
