The 2015 edition of Designs of the Year began with a broad premise: to celebrate designs that promoted or enabled change, expanded access, extended design practice or captured the spirit of their time. In the nominees, that idea appeared in very different spaces and objects: from community centres and schools to digital tools, furniture and transport systems.
Rather than offering a fixed definition, the selection proposes a way of looking. Design is not limited to the form of an object: it can also organise a service, communicate an idea or change the relationship between people and their surroundings.
Spaces as part of collective life
In architecture, the project titles and short descriptions direct attention towards shared uses. Arena do Morro was presented as a community sports centre; Forfatterhuset Kindergarten as a school for children under six; and La Última Esperanza as an architecture school for a fishing community. The list also included projects connected with urban nature, such as House for Trees, and rainwater storage, such as Waterbank Campus.
These descriptions are not enough to assess how the buildings work or what effects they had on their communities. They do, however, reveal an editorial interest in considering the built environment not only as an image, but as a setting for activities, learning and shared life. The everyday building—a school, sports centre or market—thus appears as an active part of the city.
Objects that rethink familiar tasks
The product category brought together solutions with different scales and purposes. Double O was described as an LED bicycle light; Miito as a kettle designed to save water and energy; and the Blue Diversion toilet as a sanitation system for places without a connection to utility networks. Also included were the Kano computer kit, a computer and coding set, and 10 100 1000, a series of affordable stools made in Mexico.
Taken together, these examples shift attention from formal novelty to the task each object aims to address. Lighting a journey, heating water, enabling access to digital tools or providing a place to sit are different needs; in each case, design is presented as a way of intervening in ordinary actions. The available descriptions express intentions and proposed uses, not verified results.
The city and technology as designed experiences
The digital category included projects that made visible systems often left in the background. The Walls Have Eyes was described as a visualisation of how our data is captured. The project description also identified it as an installation showing how commercial electronic devices could be used to track people in the real world. This framing presents surveillance not as an abstraction, but as a relationship between technology and public space.
Other nominees explored ways of interacting with the city: Shadowing turned a street map into an experience involving shadows, while Responsive Street Furniture was presented as a digital aid for pedestrians. The selection, then, did not entirely separate the digital from the physical. A screen, map or installation could influence how an environment is understood and navigated.
Communication is design, too
In graphics, the proposals ranged from identities and publications to campaigns. Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables was described as a supermarket campaign to reduce food waste; Franchise Animated as an animated typeface available to everyone; and 100 Years of Swiss Graphic Design as an overview of Swiss graphic design.
The range of formats suggests that visual communication can serve different purposes: making an institution recognisable, organising information, inviting participation or changing how a product is perceived. In fashion, the selection brought together collections and presentations, widening the field further: design could also be expressed through clothing, staging and cultural references.
A selection, not a definitive measure of the year
The programme associated with the edition acknowledged that, as the exhibition came to a close, it was worth reflecting both on notable projects and on those that might have been included. That observation matters: an annual selection is neither a complete inventory of design nor proof of impact. It is an editorial proposal that groups diverse works and offers a framework for comparing them.
Viewed through the lens of everyday life, the 2015 edition invites us to ask what a design does beyond looking good: what activity it enables, what information it makes visible, whom it gives access to, and what relationships it establishes between people, objects and spaces. The answers depend on each project; the shared question is what connects a school with a digital tool, a piece of furniture with a campaign, and a household object with the city.
At a glance
Scope
Editorial reading; it does not constitute a visit or a technical assessment.
Sources and references
Designs of the Year 2015 ↗25/10/2026 Design Museum, Designs of the Year 2015.
The 2015 Year in Review ↗25/10/2026 Design Museum, The 2015 Year in Review.
Your vote on Designs of the Year ↗25/10/2026 Design Museum, Your vote on Designs of the Year.