The Blueprint Awards at 100% Design are now in their 14th year. The awards are like a barometer, measuring the mood of the time: think of Konstantin Grcic’s awkwardly beautiful Miura stool for Plank (best new product of 2005), which showed that great design does not have to be conventionally beautiful; or, in the same year, the discovery of the young Turkish design house Autoban (best new exhibitor) — an early clue that Istanbul would be worth watching as a design destination.

I pored over hundreds of images of products to come up with the shortlist for the four awards (best new product, best exhibition design, best use of materials, most promising new talent) and I can safely say that it’s a challenge judging a light switch against a hand-woven rug. Some work that stands out for me this year is A Pile of Suitcases by Maarten De Ceulaer, and also work by the young Spanish designers Diego Ramos and Tomas Alonso. Ramos has designed an intriguing Graphite chair, while Alonso, who is part of the interesting new Okay Studio, is showing the 5° stool, an elegantly minimal series that appears to be strung together from rope and broom handles.

The ultimate search for winning products and designers takes place at the show itself, when an impressive panel of practitioners and critics — including Ilse Crawford of Studio Ilse, Ruth Aram from Aram store and Style’s associate editor Kara O’Reilly — will see the work and meet in private to discuss their favourites. Come along to 100% Design, September 24-27, and see if you agree with our final decisions.

100percentdesign.co.uk

Vicky Richardson is editor of Blueprint

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