Designs of the year 2014, London Design Museum

Designs of the Year 2014 
Design Museum, London 
Nomination announced - Exhibition from 26 March to 25 August 2014 

Kate Moss’s favourite app, a floating school in a Nigerian lagoon, friendly lamp posts, virtual mountain rescue teams, a recoiling mudguard for the discerning cyclist - just some of the 76 nominations for Designs of the Year 2014, announced yesterday.

Designs of the Year gathers together a year of cutting-edge innovation and original talent; showcasing the very best in global Architecture, Digital, Fashion, Furniture, Graphic, Product and Transport design.

2014’s nominees include international design stars such as Zaha Hadid, John Pawson, Stephen Jones, David Chipperfield and Miuccia Prada, alongside crowd-funded start ups and student projects. All of the nominated designs go on display at the Design Museum, in an exhibition open from 26 March to 25 August 2014. A distinguished panel of experts chose a winner from each category and one overall winner, to be announced later in the year.

Designs of the Year pits the ingeniously amusing against the admirably innovative. The Dumb Ways To Die app features cute characters who meet increasingly grisly ends, accompanied by an insanely catchy tune; while the PEEK Portable Eye Examination Kit harnesses smartphone technology to revolutionise eye care in developing countries.

The broad reach of the competition allows for an overview of emerging trends and common themes from across different design disciplines. This year the ubiquity of the smartphone is particularly apparent, as is the disruptive effect of crowd-funding sites such as Kickstarter. More than ever, designers are seeking to blur boundaries between the digital and physical worlds with new ideas like the calendar made of Lego that syncs with your computer/phone diary and the fire alarm that texts to let you know that everything’s ok.

After the success of its first outing in 2013, the Visitor Vote will return, allowing visitors to the Design Museum to pick their favourite design from the exhibition. New for 2014 is the Social Vote which sees two nominations fight it out each day through the exhibition’s online Social Vote platform. Broadcast to over one million of the Design Museum’s Twitter and Facebook followers, the Social Vote allows people from all over the world to participate in Designs of the Year 2014.

The gaming app that outlives its player, the mobile phone you can build yourself, the bottle caps that turn into building blocks – someday the other museums will be showing this stuff. #designsoftheyear

DESIGN MUSEUM 
Shad Thames, LONDON, SE1 2YD
www.designmuseum.org

In the making, Design Museum, London. An exhibition curated by Barber & Osgerby

IN THE MAKING
An exhibition curated by Barber & Osgerby 
Design Museum, London 
22 January - 4 May 2014

This exhibition, curated for the Design Museum by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, captures over twenty objects mid-manufacture, putting the aesthetic of the unfinished centre stage. Varying from the £2 coin to a cricket bat, a surprising range of objects have been chosen by British designers Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby, founders of the design studio Barber & Osgerby, to be exhibited in an unfinished state, celebrating the intriguing beauty of the production process. 

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby

© Photo by Alisa Connan 

The objects have been selected because they each have an unexpected quality about them in those moments, hours or days before they assume their final, recognisable form. These points in the making process capture a peculiar and unconventional slice of time in the production of everyday objects such as tennis balls, banknotes and even diamonds.

The show gives a glimpse of the designers’ ongoing dialogue with manufacturing that is so distinctive to their practice. Throughout their careers, Edward and Jay have had a technical curiosity and fascination with the making process. The way in which things are created has had a profound influence on them and continually inspires their work.

Thonet Chair in production

© Thonet GmbH / Photo Mirko Krizanovic 

Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby comment ‘We have always been fascinated by the making process as it is an integral part of our work. We have curated an exhibition that will provide a platform to capture and reveal a frozen moment in the manufacturing process and unveils an everyday object in its unfinished state. Often the object is as beautiful, if not more so, than the finished product!' 

Torch in production

© Photo by Lee Mawdsley

These partially made objects give an insight into the design thinking that has driven this duo to such acclaimed success, including designing the London 2012 Olympic Torch, which went on to be awarded the Design Museum’s Design of the Year 2012. Their multidisciplinary approach challenges the boundaries of industrial design, architecture and art.

DESIGN MUSEUM, LONDON 
www.designmuseum.org

Paul Smith exhibition, London, 2013-2014 at the Design Museum: Hello My Name is Paul Smith

Hello My Name is Paul Smith 
Design Museum, London 
15 November 2013 - 9 March 2014 

Paul Smith in his first shop

Photo © Paul Smith

Paul Smith in Japan, 2013

Photo © Paul Smith

Hello My Name is Paul Smith will take visitors on a journey through PAUL SMITH’s world. The exhibition will showcase and celebrate the brand through collections selected by Paul Smith. The different stages of design and production will be explored, offering a rich insight into his design process and highlighting how the principles of traditional craftsmanship of tailoring and techniques are retained but given a contemporary edge. 

Paul Smith's early portrait 

Photo © Paul Smith

Paul Smith in his office

Photo © Paul Smith

The exhibition draws on Paul Smith’s personal archive, from the company’s beginnings in Nottingham to its international prominence today. The exhibition will explore how Paul Smith’s intuitive take on design, together with an understanding of the roles of designer and retailer, have laid the foundations for the company’s lasting success and offer a unique insight into the magnificent mind of Paul Smith.

To coincide with the exhibition Rizzoli will publish a new book, Hello My Name is Paul Smith providing a visual tale of Paul Smith’s prestigious projects and creative processes. 

Advanced tickets for the forthcoming exhibition Hello My Name is Paul Smith are now on sale through TicketWeb. Tickets cost £11.85 plus booking fee and can be booked for all dates. The Design Museum is also offering an advanced ticket and book package for £50 through TicketWeb.

Exhibition Curator: Donna Loveday

PAUL SMITH: STORES

Paul Smith's Store in Korea

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

Paul Smith's Store Melrose Avenue Store, Los Angeles

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

Paul Smith Space in Tokyo

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

Paul Smith Store Westbourne House, London

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

PAUL SMITH: SPRING SUMMER 2013 COLLECTION

Paul Smith Spring Summer 2013 Men Collection

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

 Paul Smith Spring Summer 2013 Men & Women Collection

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

Paul Smith Spring Summer 2013 Women Collection

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

 Paul Smith Spring Summer 2013 Women Collection

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

Paul Smith Spring Summer 2013 Women Collection

Photo © Courtesy Paul Smith

DESIGN MUSEUM 
Shad Thames - London SE1 2YD - UK
Museum's website: www.designmuseum.org

This is Design in London Design Museum upcoming exhibition

THIS IS DESIGN 

Design Museum, London 

24 August 2011 - 22 January 2012 

Résumé en Français : voir plus bas :)

MOULTON BIKE, circa 1960 

Photo Courtesy Design Museum, London

This is Design is a celebration of the London Design Museum’s Collection, which examines the impact of design on the modern world, whilst also exploring the consequences of design and how it shapes our lives and contemporary culture. 

The Collection has been in storage for over five years and during this period it has been catalogued, conserved and documented. The Collection contains pieces ranging from early items of mass manufacture through to cutting edge contemporary design and includes furniture, fashion, transport, products, ceramics and graphics. 

CANDLESTICK TELEPHONE, circa 1920 

Photo Courtesy Design Museum, London

Design can help us absorb and adapt to change and make positive use of a modern world which could otherwise be confusing. By using themes such as Identity, Manufacturing Innovations, the Digital Revolution and Lifecycle the exhibition will look at how design provides a visual language to help use the objects around us.

Prototypes, drawings, couture samples, models, first editions and finished industrial objects will be on display demonstrating the design process and subsequent influence of design on the contemporary culture. The exhibition will also explore ‘quiet’ design, demonstrating how design surrounds us and how whether accidental or subtle, design plays a role in shaping the way we live and enables us to understand the world around us.

ANGELPOISE LAMP TYPE 1927

DESIGNED IN 1934 

Photo courtesy Design Museum, London

Highlights from the collection including the Anglepoise lamp, the original Mini and the Moulton bicycle will be displayed alongside large scale architectural models to include Sir Norman Foster’s HSBC Bank headquarters in Hong Kong, couture garments and street furniture, UK road signs and traffic lights will also be on display. 

Supplemented by loans and gifts, and celebrating new acquisitions to the collection, the exhibition also looks at the changing role of collecting design and future developments of the Design Museum Collection as it prepares to move to a new home at the former Commonwealth Institute. The new museum will provide dedicated gallery space to display the collection and celebrate the importance of design through a permanent display.

Curator: Alex Newson 

MARGARET CALVERT & JOCK KINNEAR 

ROAD SIGNAGE, 1965 

Photo courtesy Design Museum, London

Résumé en français : This is Design au Musée du Design à Londres est une exposition à venir qui débutera à la fin de l'été, le 24 août 2011 et sera visible jusqu'au 22 janvier 2012. Cette exposition présente une importante sélection du design anglais, d'hier à aujourd'hui, avec un large panel des différents types de pièces conservées. Cela inclut des objets décoratifs, des dessins ou croquis de designers, des vêtements typiques de la mode anglaise, des objets plus simples de la vie quotidienne, issus de la production de masse, aussi bien pour la maison ou le bureau que des équipements urbains ou des maquettes d'architectures. Bref, un très large éventail et en même temps un condensé du style britannique au travers de son design ancien, vintage, au design le plus contemporain. L'exposition a lieu alors que le Musée du Design de Londres va déménager dans l'ancien Institut du Commonwealth. Les pièces de la collection exposées sont présentées autour d'une problématique logiquement assez large étant donné leur diversité. Une problématique qui grosso modo tourne autour de la question du lien, de l'interaction, entre design, culture et mode de vie. Est ainsi à la fois abordé d'une part  l'impact du design sur le style de vie et d'autre part, en quoi le design est sous influence des évolutions culturelles mais aussi de l'économie et de l'évolution des outils de production. Une présentation thématique aussi, avec, par exemple les thèmes de l'identité, la spécificité culturelle, l'innovation dans le processus de production, la révolution numérique, le cycle de vie d'un produit... Alex Newson est le commissaire de cette exposition.

DESIGN MUSEUM, SHAD THAMES, LONDON SE1 2YD
Website: www.designmuseum.org

Designer Wim Crouwel retrospective. London Design Museum celebrates the prolific career of the Dutch graphic designer

Exhibition: Wim Crouwel

A Graphic Odyssey

Design Museum, London

30 March - 3 July 2011

The DESIGN MUSEUM in London celebrates the prolific career of the Dutch graphic designer WIM CROUWEL in this his FIRST UK RETROSPECTIVE.

WIM CROUWEL
New Alphabet, 1967
© Wim Crouwel - Courtesy Design Museum, London 

Regarded as one of the leading designers of the twentieth century, WIM CROUWEL embraced a new modernity to produce TYPOGRAPHIC DESIGNS that captured the essence of the emerging computer and space age of the early 1960s.

 

  

WIM CROUWEL
Exhibition Poster Architect Gerrit Rietvel,
Stedlijk Museum, Amsterdam 
Museum Boymans Beuningen, 1959
© Wim Crouwel - Courtesy Design Museum, London  

This exhibition, spanning over 60 years, will cover Crouwel’s rigorous design approach and key moments in his career including his work for design practice ‘Total Design’, the identity for the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, as well as his iconic poster, print, typography and lesser known exhibition design. The exhibition will also highlight Crouwel’s rigorous design approach exploring his innovative use of grid-based layouts and typographic systems to produce consistently striking asymmetric visuals.

 

WIM CROUWEL BIOGRAPHY

          

WIM CROUWEL
Leger Exhibition Poster, Van Abbe Museum,
Quadrat-Print, Dejong & Co, 1957
© Wim Crouwel - Courtesy Design Museum, London

Born in 1928, Wim Crouwel studied fine art in Groningen before moving to Amsterdam in the early 1950s where he initially worked for an exhibition design company. Heavily influenced by architecture, Crouwel’s sense of spatial awareness and identity led to commissions for cultural institutions, most notably in 1956 for the Van Abbe Museum in Eindhoven. Commissions for the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam followed leading to Crouwel taking sole responsibility for the museum’s identity, posters and catalogues.

 

WIM CROUWEL
Beelden in het heden (Sculptures Today),
Exhibition Poster, 1959
© Wim Crouwel - Courtesy Design Museum, London  

Whilst at the Stedelijk, Crouwel developed his unique grid system which acted as a museum template for its graphic identity, an approach which realised a visual consistency for the museum and in doing so defined a turning point for the world of graphic design.

The dawn of the space age and computer technology throughout the 60s encouraged new approaches and possibilities for typeface design. Embracing the mood of modernity, Crouwel designed a radical ‘NEW ALPHABET’ TYPEFACE, especially for the use in emerging computer systems. The ‘New Alphabet’ designed in 1967 appeared almost alien, a cipher script of vertical and horizontal lines. This Illegible font challenged the design establishment and provoked debate, a debate which Crouwel was happy to engage and openly admitted to placing visual aesthetics above function.

WIM CROUWEL
Exhibition Catalogue, Jackson Polock, 
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1980
© Wim Crouwel - Courtesy Design Museum, London 

The ‘New Alphabet’ was redrawn by Brett Wickens and Peter Saville for the Joy Division album, ‘Substance’ in the late 80s and then digitized and made available for use in 1997 by The Foundry. Crouwel designed a number of other fonts including Gridnik, an appropriate reference to his use of grid systems and Mr. Gridnik became Crouwel’s endearing nickname.

 

 

WIM CROUWEL

Exhibition Poster, De Stijl,

Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1983

© Wim Crouwel - Courtesy Design Museum, London  

In 1963 Crouwel founded the multi-disciplinary design agency TOTAL DESIGN creating the identity for numerous Dutch companies. Together with the founding partners, Crouwel shaped the visual landscape of the Netherlands throughout the 60’s and 70’s, working for clients such as IBM, and typeface commissions for Olivetti. In the 1970s Crouwel was part of a team of four designers who designed the Dutch Pavilion for the Osaka World Fair. Crouwel also designed numerous postal stamps for the Dutch post office and a controversial redesign of the telephone book using only lowercase letters.

 

Original sketches, posters, catalogues and archive photography will be on display alongside films and audio commentary. In addition to celebrating Crouwel’s career this exhibition will also explore his legacy and influence on contemporary graphic design with commentary from leading industry figures including PETER SAVILLE and STEFAN SAGMEISTER. In addition six designers will take inspiration from Crouwel’s career to produce a series of limited edition prints, a unique Wim Crouwel inspired wallpaper will also be sold exclusively in the Design Museum Shop.

Exhibition guest curated by TONY BROOK, Creative Director, Spin.

This exhibition at the Design Museum is upported by The Mondriaan Foundation

DESIGN MUSEUM

Shad Thames

LONDON SE1 2YD - UK

www.designmuseum.org

Timo Sarpaneva Collection, Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki

Timo Sarpaneva Collection
Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki
June 14 - September 1, 2002

Designer/sculptor Timo Sarpaneva (born 1926) is an internationally famed figure, a much-awarded and admired powerhouse of Finnish design. Objects designed by him are found in many museum collections in Europe, America and Australia. In addition to glass, the materials he uses include wood, metal, textiles and porcelain.

In 1995, the Museum of Art and Design received a retrospective Timo Sarpaneva collection comprising some 400 items. This is a comprehensive cross-section of his work, showing the outlines of Finnish design over a period of fifty years. The Timo Sarpaneva story is also the story of Finnish industry, which has creditably utilised the designer’s input as a factor of success.

The earliest example is an embroidered tea cosy, dating from 1950, which won a silver medal at the 1951 Milan Triennale. Timo Sarpaneva’s creations for the Iittala Glassworks in the 1950s – the Hiidenhelmi and Hiidennyrkki sculptures, Kajakki, Lansetti, Sleeping Birds and Bird Bottles as well as his i-glass and coloured flatware - are much sought after by collectors. His iron pots and pans for Rosenlew in the 1960s are still part of the basic kitchen hardware, as are his steel dishes and jugs for Opa Oy. Also familiar are his Finlandia vases, Archipelago sculptures, and his porcelain and ceramic tableware designed for Rosenthal, not to mention his Claritas series from the 1980s and Marcel from the 1990s. Sarpaneva won worldwide fame with the Milan Triennales of 1954 and 1957, the Lunning Award in 1956, and the choice the same year by House Beautiful of a glass sculpture by Sarpaneva as "The Most Beautiful Object of the Year". He was granted the title of Professor in 1976 and was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Art and Design in 1993.

After drawing people, scenery and farm animals as a child, he was soon seen as a budding artist. He was enrolled at the Institute of Industrial Arts in the 1940s. One of the ways he worked his way through studies was in the logging camps of North Karelia, where he was promoted to second foreman of his work gang. He says he is greatly proud of this achievement. He was a student of the legendary Arttu Brummer and later became his assistant and lifelong friend. After graduating as a graphic artist in 1948, Sarpaneva designed exhibitions, display windows and graphics for A. Ahlstrom Corporation, but he wanted to work with glass and was thus able to design "whatever he wanted". In the 1960s, he painted instinctively, like a child, using the fabric-printing machines he had tamed as giant brushes to create the Ambiente fabrics at the Finlayson-Forssa works.

Dan Sundell describes Timo Sarpaneva (Millenium meum, Helsinki 1999): "he is an exceptional man, a man who has wandered through time, through centuries. He was born with a curious prismatic vision that can turn matter into beauty. He also posses a rare capacity for awe, for worshipping beauty."

MUSEUM OF ART AND DESIGN, HELSINKI
Korkeavuorenkatu 23, 00130 Helsinki
www.designmuseum.fi

Richard Sapper, Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki

Richard Sapper
Museum of Art and Design, Helsinki
October 4 - November 4, 2001

Richard Sapper, born in 1932 in Munich, has interests scattered over a number of different disciplines. After studying philosophy, anatomy, graphics and engineering, and obtaining the degree in economical sciences at the Univerity of Munich, he entered in 1956 into the styling department of Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart.

In 1958 he went to Italy, establishing himself in Milan and working first for Gio Ponti, then as a designer for "La Rinascente" department store chain, then until 1977 for a part of his activity with Marco Zanuso, in whose studio prize-winning radio and television receivers, telephone, the plastic children chair and a mobile living unit were designed. In 1959 he edited, together with Mario Spagnol, the Italian publication of the diaries of Paul Klee. In 1968 he joined Pio Manzů and William L. Plumb in organizing an exhibition of advanced architectural technology for the 14th Triennale, in Milan. From 1970 to 1976 he worked as a consultant to FIAT for designing test vehicles and to Pirelli, advising on the design of new tires tread patterns.

In 1971 he participated at the exhibition "Italy, the New Domestic Landscape"at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, presenting his mobile living unit designed with Zanuso. In 1972 he collaborated with Gae Aulenti in organizing a study group to develop urban transit systems; he continued working in this field until the exhibit at the 16th Triennale, in 1979.

Since 1980 Richard Sapper is the worldwide product design consultant of the IBM Corporation, working at the same time for a number of other companies.

Professor of Industrial Design at the Kustakademie in Stuttgart since 1986, he has taught at Yale, Vienna, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Milan (at the Domus Academy) and in 1995 in Beijing. In 1993 he has held personal exhibitions at the Museum of Applied Arts in Cologne, in Hamburg and in New York at the Museum of Modern Art.

His products have won the prestigious Italian prize "Compasso d’Oro" six times (in 1998 for the expresso coffee machine "Cobán Nespresso"), as well as a number of other international design prizes such as the "BIO Gold Medal", "Die Gute Form", etc. Some of his creations, like the "Tizio" lamp for Artemide and the "9090" coffee maker for Alessi, have been added to the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

Richard Sapper is a honorary member of the Royal Society of Arts since 1988.

Today his main interests are complex systems, such as residential landscapes, office seating, electronic measuring devices and kitchen appliances.

MUSEUM OF ART AND DESIGN, HELSINKI
Korkeavuorenkatu 23, 00130 Helsinki
www.designmuseum.fi