Innovation of materials, creativity and sustainability were at the forefront of British design with the 16 winners, from three categories, scooped the 2024 Design Guild Mark in 2024, with three receiving the additional accolade the Jonathan Hindle Prize.
The Design Guild Mark, sponsored by Agau and Ideas, is a non-profit award programme was established in 2008 by The Furniture Makers’ Company to raise the profile of British industrial design and to recognise excellence in this discipline. Over time the Mark has grown from just furniture to include categories for interior design elements, and lighting.
The furniture winners were: OE1 Sit-Stand table by Industrial Facility for Herman Miller; Aran by Morgan Studio for Morgan; Kitt by Mark Gabbertas for Gabbertas Studio; Maluma by Claesson Koivisto Rune for Modus Furniture; Element sofa system by Philippe Malouin for SCP (pictured); Laines by Craig Jones for Jones & Partners; Woodland seat by Gaze Burvill Team for Gaze Burvill; Pirouette coat stand by Huw Evans and Campbell Thompson for The Conran Shop and Bellingdon table and sideboard by Lisa Gould Sandall for Ercol.
The lighting winners were: Tekiò by Anthony Dickens for Santa and Cole; Apex by John Tree forHay; Hotaru Mini by Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby for Ozeki & Co.
The interior elements winners were: Modern Flock wallpaper collection by Erica Wakerly for Modern Surface; Revolution by Jodie Padgett for Camira; Bronte British lambswool collection by Judith Coates for Bronte by Moon and Re.Wrap by Ric Frampton and Sophie Cappe for The Collective.
Three of the winners also received the Jonathan Hindle Prize for outstanding design, each receive a trophy made from solid surface Corian, and a £1,000 cash prize. They are: Aran by Morgan Studio; Re.Wrap by Ric Frampton and Sophie Cappe and Apex by John Tree.
‘As the founder of Design Guild Mark, it has been a joy to watch it develop and progress now being widely recognised as a stamp of design excellence in the sector. Sustainability has always been an important factor for the awards but I am glad to see now that is the priority, and evident in the judges selection,’ says Jonathan Hindle, DGM founder and KI Europe president.
‘Meeting the applicants, hearing their design journey, and witnessing the friendly but insightful and probing questions of the judges is an enjoyable design master class. Designers should apply for the Design Guild Mark just for the experience of meeting the judges,’ says Rodney McMahon, Design Guild Mark judging panel chairman.
The judges were (Furniture): Daniel Aram, Arm Designs md; Joanna Biggs, Sherliker Biggs partner; Elliott Koehler, JPA Design creative director; Lucy Kurrein founder Lucy Kurrein; Heather Naylor, B&B Italia head of business development contract EMEA; Tom Pearce Farrah & Pearce co-founder; Luke Pearson, PearsonLloyd co-founder and Campbell Thompson founder Campbell Thomson; (Lighting): Simon Alderson, twentytwentyone co-founder; Gitta Gschwendtner founder Gitta Gschwendtner; Risa Sano, Mensten partner; John Tree, Jasper Morrison designer and Sebastian Wrong, Established & Sons design director; and (Interiors Design Elements): Clare Johnston, Royal College of Art emeritus professor and textile designer for fashion and interiors; Natasha Marshall; Natasha Marshall designer and founder; Corinne Pringle, TP Bennet director; Emma Sewell, Wallace Sewell textile designer and Peter Thwaites, Rapture and Wright design director.
