Award-winning films

There are few more coveted accolades in the UK design world than the four London Design Medals awarded each year at the London Design Festival. Given in recognition of outstanding contribution made by individuals working in the field of design, the four medals cover every stage of a design career – from emerging talent to lifetime achievement – and were officially presented on 16 September, at the House of Commons as part of the British Land Celebration of Design.

On Wednesday 4 September, London Design Festival officially announced the four medal winners of 2019, as chosen by the judging panel of leading designers, industry thought leaders and previous winners. The winners are: London Design Medal: Tom Dixon OBE, Lifetime Achievement Medal: Dame Vivienne Westwood, Innovation Design Medal: Daniel Charny and Emerging Design Medal: Ross Atkin.

London Design Festival commissioned Zetteler to create a series of short films to offer an insight into the diverse working lives and creative approaches of each of the winners. Director Andy Dunn and the Zetteler Films team spent time with each of the winning designers over the course of August, resulting in four four-minute documentaries that capture their work, their ethos and their everyday experience of working at the forefront of the London design scene.

Tom Dixon 

“I’m never really happy with what I did before. I’m only interested in what I’m doing next.”

London Design Medal winner Tom Dixon looks back on his evolution from self-taught designer in the 1980s to one of the most celebrated names in UK design. The film follows Tom through his studio in Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross – London’s newest design district – and takes viewers behind the scenes on the engineering behind his products and sees Tom reflecting on how his early experiences informed his commercial approach.

Vivienne Westwood

“Buy less. Choose Well. Make it last.” 

The Lifetime Achievement Medal was created to honour those who have made  a transformative contribution to both the design industry and our wider culture over the course of their career. In Dame Vivienne Westwood’s case, to suggest that she has had a significant impact on the UK’s creative scene would be a profound understatement. For over five decades, Westwood has been one of the most celebrated names in fashion, from her days as the midwife of the punk movement working with Malcolm McLaren, to her ascent to the status of international design icon – and, in 2004, the subject of the V&A’s largest ever exhibition devoted to a living designer. More than any of her peers, Westwood has used her work as a platform for her activism, and has been passionately campaigning against climate-wrecking consumerism for many years. Zetteler’s film follows Vivienne as she prepares for a new exhibition to raise funds for the protection of the rainforest and sets out her agenda for saving the world.

Daniel Charny

“Making is how we express ourselves; it’s how we solve problems. It’s what makes us human.”

Design Innovation medal winner Daniel Charny is the cofounder of creative consultancy From Now On, the curator of landmark exhibition V&A exhibition ‘The Power of Making', and the founder of Fixperts, the award-winning programme taught in schools and universities that challenges young people to turn their creative skills to real-life problem solving. Following him between his studio in London and his favourite coastal retreat, Daniel’s film recounts how exploring craft as “our most precious resource” for ‘The Power of Making’ led to the development of both Fixperts and the Maker Library Network, helping kickstart a grassroots culture of democratic, purpose-driven design.

Ross Atkin

“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.