Design in working order

A fast rail link to Heathrow airport, a beaker for children and a one-use syringe have scooped the major awards at the Design Business Association’s Design Effectiveness Awards. If nothing else, this proves that it is variety that keeps the design industry on its toes.

Designed by a team of consultancies – including Wolff Olins, which created the overall concept and identity, Glazer and Design Triangle – the Heathrow Express train won the Grand Prix award. Design was judged to have been integrated seamlessly into the project and 98 per cent of passengers said they will use the service again. The project also won the Design Management category.

Conran & Partners’ Anyway-upcup Mark 2, created in association with Haberman Associates, has won the 3M innovation award and the consumer product design category. Designed to eliminate spillage and protect childrens’ teeth by only allowing a restricted flow of juice, it has achieved a 33 per cent market share since its launch two years ago.

Lewis Moberly won the Special Judges award for its identity for the K1 Star Syringe, judged to be “a powerful graphic” that can be easily reproduced anywhere in the world, using screenprinting. The syringe – a one-use model for immunisation, cure and insulin – has made a significant impact on world health. It is estimated to have saved 20 000 lives in China that would have been lost as a result of contaminated syringes.

Winners in the other categories have proved equally diverse. The brand identity under £1m category has been won by Inovus for its Caffe Nero identity, beating Pentagram, The Partners and Interbrand Newell and Sorrell, as well as Lewis Moberly’s K1 Star Syringe. Asda Kids Cereals, created by Elmwood, has scooped the own-brand packaging category gong and Checkland Kindleysides’ interiors for Levi’s store in London came first in the retail and leisure interiors category.

The print consumer accolade was presented to Mytton Williams for its identity for Footprint tourism handbooks. And Salterbaxter won the environment category for its 1999 Environment report for the EMI Group. This uses a police mugshot-style approach, taking to task staff who fail to respect the environment in their everyday work.

DBA chief executive Ian Rowland-Hill says the panel of non-design industry figures was the toughest so far. “Awareness of the role of design outside our industry is slowly increasing, helped in part by make-over television programmes, but there is still a long way to go,” he says.

Grand prix

Design Triangle, Wolff Olins, Glazer, Couves, Laing Bailey Joint Venture, Gebler Tooth for BAA’s Heathrow Express

3M Innovation award

Conran & Partners for Haberman Associates for Anywayupcup Mark 2

Corporate identity under £1m

Inovus for Caffe Nero

Consumer literature

Mytton Williams for Footprint Handbooks

Business-to-business literature

Creative Leap for Liverpool Victoria Friendly Society (for IFA Channel Launch)

Branded packaging

Design Bridge for The Symington Family Port Companies (for Warres Otima)

Own-brand packaging

Elmwood for Asda Kids Cereals

Consumer product design

Conran & Partners for Anywayupcup Mark 2 (for Haberman Associates)

Industrial product design

London Associates for Strand Lighting for SL Series of theatre lighting

Commercial interiors

Cobalt for Overland Group for CAT showroom

Retail interiors

Checkland Kindleysides for Levi’s London Projects

Exhibitions

Met Studio Design for The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television, Bradford for Wired Worlds

Internal communications

The Team for Going Places for Livewire

Design Management

Design Triangle, Wolff Olins, Glazer, Couves, Laing Bailey Joint Venture, Gebler Tooth for BAA for Heathrow Express

Design for good

The Body Shop for Make your Mark

Environment

Salterbaxter for The EMI Group Environment Report 1999

Special Judges award

Lewis Moberly for Star Syringe for K1