Every year London Design Festival presents the London Design Medals; paying special tribute to designers who are making, or have made, a significant difference to our lives through their innovation, originality and imagination. There are four individual London Design Medals which have become highly coveted accolades in the world of design: London Design Medal; Lifetime Achievement Medal; Emerging Talent Medal; and Design Innovation Medal.
An illustrious panel of established designers, industry commentators and previous winners judged the four medals. The Jury included Paul Thompson (Rector, Royal College of Art), Tony Chambers (Editor-In-Chief, Wallpaper* Magazine), Justine Simons (Deputy Mayor of Culture and Creative Industries), Jay Osgerby (Barber & Osgerby) and Ian Callum (Director of Design, Jaguar).
In addition, London Design Festival presents an exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum featuring the work of the four winners from 16-24 September 2017. The British Land Celebration of Design Medal exhibition illustrates the breadth of work and scale of achievement of each of the winners.
The 2017 winners:
- PANERAI LONDON DESIGN MEDAL: Es Devlin;
The Panerai London Design Medal is awarded to an individual who has distinguished themselves within the industry and demonstrated consistent design excellence. Es Devlin is widely considered to be one of the world’s foremost set designers. Her first works were for fringe theatres in London, but her canvas has expanded to the National Theatre, Sadlers Wells, La Scala and Wembley Stadium. She has created stage sets in collaboration with Beyoncé, Kanye West, U2 and Jay-Z, as well as designing the London Olympic closing ceremony and the Rio Olympic opening ceremony.
- DESIGN INNOVATION MEDAL: Paul Priestman;
The Design Innovation Medal, supported by Tanqueray, celebrates entrepreneurship in all its forms, both locally and internationally. It honours an individual for whom design lies at the core of their development and success. Paul Priestman is the Founding Director and Chairman of industrial design and transportation consultancy, PriestmanGoode. From the new Tube for London to airplanes and hotels, his visionary thinking has shaped daily life for millions of people around the world. Priestman has been named one of Britain’s 500 most influential individuals by The Sunday Times Progress 1000.
- EMERGING TALENT MEDAL: Julian Melchiorri;
The Emerging Talent Medal, supported by Storey, recognizes an individual who has made an impact on the design scene within five or so years of graduation. Julian Melchiorri is an innovator, design-engineer and entrepreneur. Internationally known for his ‘artificial leaf’ projects, he exploits biological micro-organisms and materials to convert waste and pollution into valuable resources. He was the V&A Exhibition Road Engineering Resident from April 2016 to July 2017, a TEDx speaker, and Forbes 30 under 30 best social entrepreneur 2017. Earlier this year, he won The Arts Foundation award for Materials Innovation supported by The Clothworkers’ Foundation.
- LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT MEDAL: Margaret Calvert OBE;
The Lifetime Achievement Medal honours an individual who has made significant and fundamental contributions to the design industry over their career. South African-born Margaret Calvert’s first job – at the invitation of Jock Kinneir – was to assist on the signage of Gatwick Airport, a collaboration that would eventually lead to the design partnership Kinneir Calvert Tunhill. Calvert went on to take a leading role in one of the biggest and most well recognised public design projects in the UK: the road signing system that remains in place to this day. She also created lettering and signing systems for NHS hospitals, British Rail and the British Airports Authority. More recently, she was heavily involved in the design of the government’s new website and has worked on the design of lettering and pictograms for the Moscow Metro.