The countdown to naming the winner of the 2009 Prince Philip Designers Prize, awarded annually to recognize a lifetime contribution to design, has begun with the nomination of nine design luminaries including David Adjaye, Wayne Hemingway and Hussein Chalayan.
The winner of the Prize, which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary, will be announced by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh at a presentation ceremony followed by a reception on 15 October at Buckingham Palace.
The Prince Philip Designers Prize has been in existence since the early days of the Design Council. It was created by HRH as a response to post-war austerity, and early winners, such as the Prestcold Packaway refrigerator by Charles Longman (1959) stood out from the largely functional designs of the era. These days the emphasis of the Prize is on the outstanding contributions of designers themselves to design among businesses and the public.
In its half century, the prestigious award has rewarded the best in design from products and graphics to buildings and feats of engineering, and has put the spotlight on designers for influencing and shaping our daily lives.
David Kester, Chief Executive of the Design Council, commented: "There are many design prizes, so for one to endure for five decades, as this one has, it's got to be special. The Prince Philip Designers Prize is unique for several reasons, not least its royal patron who continues to lead the judging with passion and expertise. It celebrates not just an individual design, but a body of work - a lasting contribution by a designer to business success and quality of life, and also to the standing of design itself."
This year's nominees are internationally renowned in their field for shaping the world around us and for defining design today and for future generations. They cover a wide range of disciplines - from architecture to industrial, graphic and fashion design - and between them provide a snapshot of the creative and commercial strengths of the UK design industry.
The Finalists
- David Adjaye is one of the most prominent and influential architects of his generation. His work - from the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo to the Idea Store in Whitechapel -always sets out to innovate and intrigue, combining an artist's sensibility and vision with diverse, multidisciplinary approaches to design.
- Jeff Banks is a fashion entrepreneur who has for decades combined fashion design with outstanding skills as a communicator and businessman. He brought fashion design to a mass audience through The Clothes Show, which ran on BBC from 1986 - long before the later stream of makeover shows.
- Hussein Chalayan is known as one of the most creative fashion designers of his generation, bringing together artistic ambition, ingenuity and innovation in designs that carry an emotional intensity. His work has been seen at the Venice Art Biennale, Tate Modern and the Design Museum, and his clients include the musician Bjork.
- Wayne Hemingway first made a name as a fashion designer with subversive label Red or Dead. With Hemingway Design, he is now specialising in affordable, sustainable housing and fighting for higher standards in housebuilding and design.
- Eric Parry bases his architecture on the idea that old and new can combine to enhance each other, and the belief that architecture should enrich daily life and culture. Recent work includes the renewal of St Martin-in-the Fields in London and the award-winning 5 Aldermanbury Square, again in London.
- Michael Peters has in a 40-year career played a substantial role in fostering the idea that design is vital to business success, as well as doing much to have design itself taken seriously as an industry and a profession. His clients in branding and digital communications have included Nike, the BBC, Universal Studios, Vodafone, British Airways and the Conservative Party.
- Andrew Ritchie has dedicated himself to perfecting the design of a single product - the UK-manufactured Brompton folding bicycle. In the process, he has made it an international success story and built a business which has grown by 25% for the last three years.
- Peter Saville put graphic design on the map for millions of people through his iconic record sleeves and poster artwork that helped to create the Manchester music scene in the 1980s. Later, he moved into fashion art direction and interiors, and is now also Creative Director of the City of Manchester, with a remit covering transport, architecture and sustainability.
- Jay Smith and Howard Milton are the husband and wife team who combine creative excellence with commercial strength to create brands for household names such as KitKat, Lucozade, NatWest, Gillette, Dulux, Sharwoods, Switch and Sainsbury's. They have designed for over a quarter of the UK's top 100 grocery brands, and are currently the calming voice of the Government Swine Flu communications.
Former winners of the Prize include Thomas Heatherwick (2006); the architect Lord Foster of Thamesbank (2004); Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran (2003); Pentagram founder Kenneth Grange (2001) and inventor Sir James Dyson (1997).