The impact of fresh ideas and true innovation showcased at New Designers
British graduate designs stand out at Business Design Centre in London: from innovative potassium devices and smart hearing solutions to sourdough baking and food waste innovations.
New Designers returned to the Business Design Centre in London with its Week Two showcase, running until 6 July 2024. Now in its 39th year, the event celebrates the best emerging talent in the UK, featuring over 3,000 design graduates from more than 100 university courses.
Week Two focuses on disciplines such as Furniture, Product Design, Industrial and Spatial Design, Graphic Design, Illustration and Animation, Motion Art, Digital Art, and Game Design. The Week Two award ceremony, opened by leading London-based interior designers 2LG Studio, honored a group of promising graduates with 19 accolades supported by international brands and businesses as part of the show’s New Designers Awards programme.
The New Designer of the Year Award winner is Sophia Kambouris, a BA (Hons) Industrial Design and Technology student from Brunel University. Her award-winning final-year project, Kali, is a remote potassium monitoring system designed to assist patients with chronic diseases and rare genetic disorders, inspired by her personal experience.
Developed in collaboration with Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital and Kalium Health, a Cambridge-based medical technology company, Kambouris’s project received high praise from the industry panel of judges. They commended her initiative in partnering with medical professionals and described her project as “a compelling story and journey.”
The Runner-Up prize went to Josephine Drew from Edinburgh College of Art for her ‘Coop’ bowl. Drew, a BA (Hons) Product Design student, innovatively repurposed eggshells—11.7 billion of which are discarded annually in the UK—by mixing them with algae and water to create a paste that hardens like ceramics. She used egg yolk and kaolin paint to decorate the inside of the bowls. Designed as centerpieces for dining tables, Drew’s bowls aim to spark discussions about sustainability and food waste. Judges praised her work as “a poetic solution to the massive problem of food waste.”
Other innovative designs winning top prizes at New Designers include a cordless drill for DIY novices, an inclusive smart home assistant, a compact cooking kit for outdoor enthusiasts, a simplified sourdough baking kit, and an exfoliating soap bar made from native sheep wool. Additionally, the event showcased beautifully crafted furniture pieces from a talented group of graduates and celebrated the ND Selects winner, London-based artist and designer Masao Rong.
The ND Awards recognize and celebrate the creative and forward-thinking work of tomorrow’s rising stars by offering various prizes and invaluable industry opportunities. These awards provide essential support as these talents embark on their creative careers. This year’s awards address trending topics such as sustainability, mental wellbeing, and diversity and inclusivity in the design world.
