London’s Design Museum celebrates best of British design
Wednesday, 22 January 2014 00:00
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Britain’s role at the heart of global design is revealed in a new exhibition that opens today, Wednesday, at London’s Design Museum.
Looking at the many stages of manufacture that everyday objects go through, ‘In The Making’ explores the heritage of items from banknotes to tennis balls, Coca-Cola cans to Apple computers and smartphones, and even the Olympic torch.
Curators Edward Barber and Jay Osgerby argue that Britain’s design heritage has propelled home-grown designers, such as Apple’s Sir Jony Ive, to key roles at major companies.
“British designers are at the forefront of every company when you think how design has been involved,” Osgerby said. “They don’t necessarily work for British companies, but over the past couple of years British design has really come to be really appreciated as a tool of the economy and appreciated worldwide.”
“We’re a nation of inventors and engineers, from the railways to the iron bridge,” said Barber.
“Our main criterion was to have everyday objects and that the people who visited the show would be able to understand what they were and have a familiarity with them. So whether that’s a tennis ball, the front of a tube train, a silicon chip or the £ 2 coin, they’re all things you use every day even though you may not realise that you are.
