Inventive Designs Of The Year At Design Museum

Tabish Khan
By Tabish Khan Last edited 120 months ago
Inventive Designs Of The Year At Design Museum
LEGO calendar - Designed by Adrian Westaway, Clara Gaggero, Duncan Fitzsimons, Simon Emberton
Photographs by Adrian Westaway
LEGO calendar - Designed by Adrian Westaway, Clara Gaggero, Duncan Fitzsimons, Simon Emberton Photographs by Adrian Westaway
Metro trains, dumb ways to die - Designed by McCann Melbourne
image by McCann Melbourne
Metro trains, dumb ways to die - Designed by McCann Melbourne image by McCann Melbourne
ME.WE: forward thinking car - Designed by Massaud & Toyota ED2
Photograph Small Dots
ME.WE: forward thinking car - Designed by Massaud & Toyota ED2 Photograph Small Dots
Makoko floating school - Designed by NLÉ, Makoko Community Building Team
Photo by NLÉ
Makoko floating school - Designed by NLÉ, Makoko Community Building Team Photo by NLÉ
CHINEASY - Created by ShaoLan Hsueh with Illustrations by Noma Bar
Photo by Brave New World
CHINEASY - Created by ShaoLan Hsueh with Illustrations by Noma Bar Photo by Brave New World
Facade for Paul Smith, Albemarle Street, London - Designed by 6a Architects
Photo by 6a architects
Facade for Paul Smith, Albemarle Street, London - Designed by 6a Architects Photo by 6a architects

Every year we look forward to the Designs of the Year exhibition both for the innovative designs and for the affirmation we get from seeing how inventive people can be. This year's selection is no different with 76 projects ranging across the fields of architecture, digital, fashion, furniture, graphics, products and transport.

Life-changing inventions include a syringe that should help stop the spread of infectious disease as it turns red once it's been used, and a floating school in Nigeria that won't be knocked out by flooding. There are practical designs for the Western world too including the CityMapper app and a tactile watch that allows blind people to tell the time.

Two environmentally friendly cars make it to this year's selection and they couldn't be more different, with the sleek Volkswagen XL1 a striking contrast to the aesthetically hideous, yet ecologically sound, ME:WE.

One of our favourites is Phonebloks where every component of a mobile phone is separate and replaceable, thus removing the need to upgrade an entire phone when one component ages of breaks down. We also enjoyed the use of LEGO to create an uploadable calendar that brings some fun into project management.

The layout of this exhibition is a significant improvement on previous years. It feels a lot less cluttered. Combined with a strong selection of finalists, this makes the show the best incarnation of Designs of the Year we've seen.

Designs of the Year 2014 is on at Design Museum, Shad Thames, SE1 2YD until 25 August. Tickets are £12.40 for adults, concessions available.

Last Updated 27 March 2014