Brave new future

The Hospital Club, the private members hub for London’s media and creative industries, released its list of the 100 most influential figures yesterday. Under the title Brave New Futures, the list names the five top emerging and established figures in ten disciplines, including design, digital and film.

For design, the top ten names were not much of a surprise, with the established list including Millennium Dome architect Richard Rodgers and Foster and Partners founder Sir Norman Foster. London Design Festival director Ben Evans and all-rounder Marc Newson – perhaps best known for his ergonomic and colourful household products – were both commended. Ron Arad, whose first major UK retrospective Restless was at the Barbican earlier this year, also got a timely mention.

Former Design Museum designer-in-residence Asif Khan took his place in the emerging designers list, impressing judges with the award-winning West Beach Café in Littlehampton and his African schools furniture programme developed with the Clinton Foundation.

Product designer Jethro Macey, also a former Design Museum resident, was listed as an up-and-coming talent as was Max Fraser, the editor of the London Design Guide as well as the writer behind a multitude of design books and articles.

Martha Freud, who started off in fashion but has now started experimenting in three dimensional products, impressed the judges with her organic and ecological furniture. She says, ‘Martha Freud Design is a new company, and it is only recently that I started showing people my work, so to get such a positive response is very encouraging.’

Freddie Yauner, also listed as an emerging talent, creates products that offer a satirical look on consumerism and product design. His current project Because We Can features a clock that can tell the time to a millionth of a second. Yauner’s animated Signs of Life exit sign was recently acquired by MoMA for its permanent collection. Watch it below.

To read about the other 90 finalists visit www.thehospitalclub.com.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-s-F5x9XIEE