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The Ralph Saltzman Prize 2022
The Design Museum has launched a new initiative to celebrate emerging product designers, created by Lisa Saltzman on behalf of the Saltzman Family Foundation and in recognition of Ralph Saltzman’s design legacy.
Designer Mac Collins has been selected as the 2022 prize winner.
The annual Ralph Saltzman Prize included a £5,000 honorarium and the opportunity for an emerging designer to show their work at the Design Museum.
The prize pays tribute to Saltzman’s innovative approach to contemporary design practices and contributes to the Museum’s mission to champion new talent and nurture the development of a vibrant design sector.
“This particular prize is for a product designer working in or across products, furniture, textiles or technology. We are defining ‘emerging’ as a practising designer within five years of leaving education or within five years of setting up a business. We look for people who are making a mark on product design, be it through innovation, sustainability or cultural re-evaluation.
The Design Museum strongly believes in supporting emerging designers so we are thrilled to work with The Saltzman Family Foundation to make this possible through this new award.”
– Justin McGuirk, Chief Curator, the Design Museum
A panel of eminent designers drawn from the museum’s network handpicked a number of the brightest young designers currently making waves in the field of product design.
The nominees were then be invited to present their work to a panel including the museum’s directorate and external experts who finally selected the winner of the Ralph Saltzman Prize, Mac Collins.
Co-Founder and President of DesignTex, and a major figure in the design world, Saltzman's curiosity and collaborative spirit is evident in the legacy of innovation he leaves behind and in the company he founded nearly 60 years ago. Designtex's development of sustainable textiles and the partnership that emerged between William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart won First Prize in the International Design Sense competition at the Design Museum in 2000.
What made you want to set up this award at the Design Museum in London?
It is one of the most prestigious design museums in the world.
Why do you think an award for a designer of this level is important?
I created this prize as a legacy to my father [Ralph Saltzman]. He was an innovator and a pioneer who had a keen eye, great taste and he thought outside the box. The Ralph Saltzman Prize will be a way to give these young designers an opportunity, an honorarium and a show. It’s the best way to perpetuate my father’s legacy. Designers at this level are seasoned enough and the opportunity to take them to the next level is exciting.
How did your father, founder of Designtex, influence your design thinking?
My father's love of design permeated my life in a very significant way, my father noticed everything, everywhere... He had a very profound influence on me in so many ways, his observations, keen eye and great taste impacted me in a big way, his aesthetic and love of Design was intoxicating.
How do you think design influences our day-to-day life and why is good design important?
Design is at the core of almost all things, good design enhances users' experience and can help solve problems.
Who are or have been some of your favourite designers (past and present)?
Josef Hoffmann, Charles Eames, Marc Newson.
Nominees
Nominated by Anab Jain, Superflux, Alexandra Fruhstorfer is a transdisciplinary designer with an investigative and research driven approach. A graduate of Industrial Design at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, her current interest looks at how work and productivity are related to the anthropogenic impact on our planet.
Nominated by Matt Jones, Francisco Norris is a design technologist based in London. He is the Founder of Zelp where he leads a team of designers, engineers and scientists developing innovative technology to neutralise cattle methane emissions in real-time while gathering unique data to increase welfare and productivity on-farm.
Nominated by Industrial Facility, Mac Collins is a designer and artist from Nottingham, UK. He is committed to designing and making narrative-rich pieces. Alongside his design practice, Mac lectures at both Nottingham Trent University and Northumbria University.
Nominated by Doshi Levien, duo Marion Pinaffo and Raphaël Pluvinage have worked together since 2015 after graduating from ENSCI - Les Ateliers. They conceptualise and create objects, systems and simple procedures for visualising complex, concealed realities.
Nominated by Michael Anastassiades, Sky Lucy Young is a textile designer who combines visual and theoretical research and concept through an in-depth exploration in colour, materials and purpose. An RCA graduate, she is currently a Textile Workshop Manager, Teaching Assistant Professor at Design School of Kolding (DK).
Nominators
Anab Jain, Co-founder and Director at Superflux, is a designer, futurist, filmmaker and educator. She is the recipient of the Award of Excellence ICSID, UNESCO Digital Arts Award and Grand Prix Geneva Human Rights Festival, as well as awards from Apple and the UK Government’s Innovation Department.
A Principal Designer at Google AI, Matt Jones has been designing digital products and services since 1995. He was creative director for the launch of BBC News Online, worked at Nokia on areas as diverse as tangible/physical interfaces and the human experience of play and was a principal at BERG. Matt has had projects exhibited in MoMA and products featured in the FT, Wired and Marvel comics.
Michael Anastassiades' practice contemplates both industrial production and artisan techniques. Michael is a Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) at the Royal Society of Arts and has collaborated with major international manufacturers, including Flos, B&B Italia, Herman Miller, Cassina, Molteni and Bang & Olufsen.
Founded by the designers Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien, London-based studio Doshi Levien is internationally renowned for its marriage of culture, technology, industrial design and fine craftsmanship. Doshi Levien has created works for leading manufacturers, prestigious international museums and cultural institutions.
London-based studio co-founded by designers Sam Hecht and Kim Colin, is considered one of the most progressive studios in product, furniture and exhibition design. The duo work for a roster of pioneering clients, including Muji, Emeco, Epson and Wästberg. Works are held in collections worldwide, including at the Cooper Hewitt, Centre Pompidou, and the Design Museum.
Background image: Textile pattern by DesignTex.
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