Designs of the Year 2013: Homebuildlife highlights

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Child ViSion Glasses by Centre for Vision in the Developing World


London's Design Museum has today opened the doors to its annual Designs of the Year exhibition, which presents each of the 99 nominees for visitors to explore.

Our highlights from the engrossing showcase include glasses with flexible prescriptions, a $25 computer board that teaches kids how to code, and a corporate yearbook that communicates through colour.

Child ViSion Glasses by Centre for Vision in the Developing World


Child ViSion Glasses, developed by Centre for Vision in the Developing World, allow the user to adjust the prescription of their lenses themselves, simply by altering the amount of fluid in the glasses by twisting the canister at each side. The product is available to schools of 12-18 year olds through a series of distribution programs.

Raspberry Pi at Designs of the Year 2013

Raspberry Pi is a $25 computer board that is extremely easy to use. The board contains a handful of basic outlets, from a USB port to an SD card reader, and has become very popular in schools, where kids use the products to teach themselves how to code.

Modified Raspberry Pi boards at Designs of the Year 2013
The possibilities created by the board are very wide, and the website documents the many different ways it's been used. Equally affordable add-ons, such as cameras, are also being developed.

Pierre Hardy Travel Sprays at Designs of the Year 2013

Pierre Hardy's Travel Sprays were nominated by Wallpaper* Editor-in-Chief Tony Chambers for visualising the effect of the product so beautifully. The gradations of colour on the spray canister reflect the character of the perfume contained inside, and are hand-sprayed using automotive paint.

Zumtobel 2011/12 Annual Report at Designs of the Year 2013


Designed by Brighten The Corners, Zumtobel's 2011-12 annual report juxtaposes the lighting company's business results with pages of pure colour printed with up to 10 neon hues.

Zumtobel 2011/12 Annual Report at Designs of the Year 2013

The pages act as a reminder of the creative nature of the company, which works closely with light and colour in its projects.

Zumtobel 2011/12 Annual Report at Designs of the Year 2013
Zumtobel 2011/12 Annual Report at Designs of the Year 2013
Other highlights from the show include Scholten & Baijings' Colour Porcelain, which first featured in our Milan 2012 Colour Overview, Muller Van Severens' Future Primitives furniture, and Marni's 100 Chairs project, which we provided an update on yesterday.

Colour Porcelain by Scholten & Baijings for 1616 Arita Japan at Designs of the Year 2013
Designs of the Year 2013 runs until 7 July at the Design Museum. The winner will be announced on 17 April, and you can see our earlier preview of the nominees here.

Future Primitives by Muller Van Severen at Designs of the Year 2013

100 Chairs by Marni at Designs of the Year 2013