Swath-drying device wins Glasgow 1999 Design Medal

A device used to dry out bales of cut hay is this year’s winner of the Glasgow 1999 Design Medal.

Glasgow School of Art product design engineering graduate Gavin Armstrong’s ‘Swath Inverter’ was last night lauded for its ‘innovative design’ and ‘technical development’ at a ceremony at local design and architecture venue The Lighthouse.

Armstrong’s product addresses Scottish farmers’ problems in drying ‘swath’, or cut hay, before it is baled, given the damp Scottish climate. He has first-hand experience of the problem, having grown up on a farm.

Chairman of the judging panel – and head of the Urban Learning Space at The Lighthouse – Don McIntyre said Armstrong’s work represents a ‘real’ project, developed in response to a clearly identified and complex problem.

Pamela Cuthill and Claudine Cockburn, both visual communications graduates from the GSA, were highly commended by judges for their limited edition book, illustrated with a series of documentary images, artefacts and memorabilia presenting the story of a soldier’s fight to rebuild his life after suffering horrific injuries in Iraq.

The Glasgow 1999 Design Medal, organised by The Lighthouse as part of the legacy of the Glasgow UK City of Architecture and Design in 1999, recognises the work of design graduates from Glasgow’s higher and further education institutions.

This year’s judging panel comprised: textile and furniture designer Donna Wilson; Fraser Bruce, lecturer in Product Design Engineering at Duncan of Jordonstone, University of Dundee; Oskar Kron of Skratch Design; and Christina Jansen, director of The Scottish Gallery.

An exhibition of work by the 12 shortlisted designers will run at The Lighthouse, 11 Mitchell Lane, Glasgow, until early May.