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Design Council hosts Prince Philip Designers Prize 2011

30.11.2011 News

Above: Quentin Blake. Courtesy of Design Council.

London (United Kingdom) - Quentin Blake, one of Britain's best-loved illustrators and the man who created the world-famous images of Roald Dahl characters including the Big Friendly Giant and Matilda, was named the winner of the 2011 Prince Philip Designers Prize by HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at a ceremony at the Design Council in London on 29 November.

Quentin Blake is perhaps best known for his illustrations of Roald Dahl's books, but his distinctive pen, ink and watercolour drawings have also accompanied the work of many other children's authors like Michael Rosen and Joan Aiken. He has illustrated Dickens, Carroll and Lear as well as originating his own characters including Mister Magnolia, Mrs Armitage and Clown.

Since his first drawings appeared in Punch when he was 16, Blake has become recognised around the world in a 60-year career. He became widely known in the 1970s, presenting the BBC's Jackanory, where he illustrated the various stories on screen. He became the first ever Children's Laureate in 1999.

Two of this year's nominees received Special Commendations from the judges: Sir David Chipperfield CBE RDI, one of the UK's most distinguished architects and this year's winner of the Royal Gold Medal from RIBA and the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, and Saeed Zahedi, one of the world's leading designers of medical prosthetics, who has been at the forefront of breakthroughs which improve quality of life for people, including military personnel treated at the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre.

This year's nominees also included:

Cecil Balmond, winner of the Gretna Landmark on the England-Scotland border, and co-designer of the Orbit for London's 2012 Olympics, is hailed as one of the greatest structural engineers and designers
Tim Brown, the leading pioneer of Â‘design thinking' and the CEO of global design and innovation firm IDEO.
Dinah Casson RDI, FRCA, FCSD, one of the world's most respected environmental and exhibition designers.
Stephen Jones, one of the UK's foremost milliners, who has transformed millinery since first opening a salon in 1980, and who has trained other leading designers including Philip Treacy and Noel Stewart.
Sir Paul Smith, arguably the most successful British fashion designer ever. Since opening his first shop in Nottingham in 1970 he has built an international business that has defined the way three generations of men Â– and latterly women - have dressed.
Shane Walter, the co-founder of onedotzero, which since 1996 has been at the forefront of digital design and culture with festivals, public events and publishing projects, and an education programme for emerging talent.
Chris Wilkinson OBE and Jim Eyre OBE, co-founders of Wilkinson Eyre Architects, the first practice to win the Stirling Prize twice and the only one to have won it two years in a row.

The work of the nominees provides a snapshot of the creative and commercial strengths of the UK design industry. Their biographies and examples of their work can be viewed on the Design Council's website.

This is the final year that HRH The Duke of Edinburgh will deliver the Prize. Having headed up the judging panel and presented the Prize since its inception in 1959, he will be stepping down from the Prize as he reduces his work-load and royal responsibilities in his 90th year.

See the original article for more details.

About Design Council

The Design Council started life in 1944 as the Council of Industrial Design. Over more than 60 years Britain has seen massive social, economic and technological change. Design Council has also changed and always fought to make design central to Britain's economy in a way that has been imitated around the world.