What do drones recreating the flight of starlings, a ceramic water dispenser and the Dutch women’s football team logo have in common? They are all among the Dutch projects which have made the short list of a prestigious international design award.

In total, at least eight different Dutch design groups have made it to the shortlist of the annual Beazley Designs of the Year competition, organised by the Design Museum in London.

Dutch design duo Studio Drift are nominated in the digital category for their stunning project Franchise Freedom which 300 drones create patterns in the night sky as if they were  a swarm of starlings Their recent retrospective at the Stedelijk museum attracted the highest number of visitors since the museum reopened six years ago.

Algae Lab, a joint project between the Dutch Studio Klarenbeek & Dros and Atelier Luma of France, explores how algae could be used to replace non-biodegradable plastics and is nominated in the product category. The ceramic water carafe by Eindhoven-based Lotte de Raadt is also on the product award list.

The new Qatar National Library by Dutch architect’s bureau OMA has also made the shortlist as have what are being claimed as the most sustainable jeans ever, from the stable of Dutch group G-Star. The Made by Rain textiles produced by Aliki van der Kruijs are also nominated for the fashion award.

Two Dutch designs make the graphics short list: Made for Thought, who designed the branding for Ekoplaza’s pop up plastics free supermarket and Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam who made the new lioness logo for the Dutch women’s football team.

Showcases

The international awards and exhibition showcase design projects from the previous 12 months, across six categories: architecture, digital, fashion, product, graphics, and transport.

‘One of the things I like about design is the fact that it’s all-encompassing and there’s so many ways of defining it. Its parameters are always expanding,’ Aric Chen, the guest curator who put together the shortlist, is quoted as saying by CNN.

Design magazine Wallpaper said in its comments on the shortlist that ‘sustainability has been honoured throughout with many impressive eco-friendly projects.’

Big names

Other shortlisted entries include pop star Rihanna’s inclusive make-up line Fenty Beauty’, Nike’s Nigerian football team collection, Sony’s Aibo robotic dog and Virgin’s Hyperloop project.

Design experts, practitioners and academics from across the world were asked by the Design Museum to suggest potential projects. The 87 shortlisted are now on display in an exhibition at the London gallery.

There will be seven winners, with one taken from each category and one overall winner, which will be announced on 15 November 2018.

(If we have missed any Dutch designers on the shortlist, apologies and please email editor@dutchnews.nl)