Ross Atkin, Emerging Design Medal Winner 2019

“The vast majority of designers are out there – not under their own names – solving problems for people, and, ultimately, that’s what the job’s about.”

The Emerging Design Medal is awarded to the designer who has made the biggest impact within five years of graduation. This year’s winner is East London-based designer Ross Atkin, who has already made more of a difference to people’s lives than many designers could ever hope to. Ross works in the often unseen and largely anonymous world of assistive technology and accessibility-driven design, using real-world research to engineer practical everyday interventions that improve quality of life. The film showcases a handful of the diverse designs that he has developed in his short career to date, including: Sightline, a roadworks-navigating app for visually impaired pedestrians; a tablet-based control system for sensory rooms; and Smartibot, a range of robot-building kits and tools designed to bring engineering into children’s education.