Press Office

Information for journalists, including press releases and contact details for the press office.

The Design Museum Press Office is staffed 09.30 – 17.00 Monday to Friday.

Media releases with news about the Design Museum and its current and future exhibitions can be found below.

Get in touch

Media access and visits to the museum must be accredited and approved in advance by a member of the press team. All professional filming and photography at the museum must be arranged through the press office.

If you are a member of the media and would like information, images or to speak to a Design Museum expert please contact pr@designmuseum.org

The Design Museum’s 2025 exhibitions: from the dancefloor of 1980s London, to the Grand Budapest Hotel

The Design Museum today reveals its full exhibition programme for 2025, with visitors invited to journey from the dancefloor of 1980s London to the Grand Budapest Hotel.

The Design Museum opens display exploring fashion's more sustainable future

13 September

The Design Museum today unveils a new free display, Tomorrow's Wardrobe, which celebrates a more sustainable future for fashion.

From Catwoman to Corpse Bride: 600 items from the world of Tim Burton come to the Design Museum

9 September 2024

The Design Museum reveals for the first time the highlights of its major autumn exhibition on the exceptional career of director Tim Burton.

Emoji and folktales tell climate story in Design Museum’s major new installation

30 July 2024

The Design Museum unveils a major public commission that uses folktales and a new collection of emoji to examine humanity’s relationship with the natural environment.

Design Museum acquires Ahluwalia garment for upcoming sustainable fashion display

25 July 2024

The Design Museum announces the acquisition of a garment from fashion brand Ahluwalia, for a new display – Tomorrow's Wardrobe – that will open on 14 September to coincide with London Fashion Week and London Design Festival.

Design Museum opens Barbie exhibition, featuring rare first edition doll and 250 objects

3 July 2024

The Design Museum in London today unveils the dolls, dresses and Dreamhouses inside its major Barbie exhibition.

Opening to mark the 65th anniversary of the Barbie brand, Barbie®: The Exhibition — in partnership with Mattel, a leading global toy company — features over 180 remarkable dolls, with rare, unique and innovative Barbie dolls and accessories amongst the highlights.

Changing Spaces: 60 Years of Design with Habitat installation comes to the Design Museum

The Design Museum announces Britain’s best-loved home and furniture retailer, Habitat, will celebrate its 60th anniversary with “Changing Spaces: 60 Years of Designs with Habitat”, a free display that explores our evolving relationship with our homes, and the role design can play in enabling us to create spaces that truly reflect who we are and where we come from.

Design Museum unveils display of design research that rethinks our relationship with the sun

20 June 2024

The Design Museum opens Solar, a free-to-visit display that showcases innovative design research responding to the climate crisis and explores the role of design in our relationship with the heat and light of the sun.

The Design Museum launches Future Observatory Journal

23 April 2024

The Design Museum launches Future Observatory Journal, a new online publication that seeks to reshape the discourse around design and sustainability.

Published biannually by the museum’s research hub, Future Observatory, each issue explores a theme at the intersection of design, ecology and futures. The first issue’s theme is ‘bioregioning’, a concept with the potential to redraw the boundaries of climate action.

The Design Museum awarded Independent Research Organisation status

11 April 2024

The Design Museum announces that it has been granted Independent Research Organisation (IRO) status, becoming the first independent museum to be awarded the recognition.

This acknowledges the museum’s ability to lead and support groundbreaking research. IRO status is awarded to the Design Museum by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) on behalf of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

Design Museum releases toolkit for reducing exhibition environmental impact in all 6 UN official languages

4 April 2024

The Design Museum announces the translation of its industry-leading toolkit for reducing the environmental impact of exhibitions into all 6 UN languages.

First solo UK exhibition of Italian designer Enzo Mari opens at the Design Museum

The 60-year career of designer Enzo Mari — a pioneer of post-war Italian design — is spotlit in a major exhibition. It is co-curated by Mari’s friend and collaborator, and artistic director of Serpentine, Hans Ulrich Obrist, with Francesca Giacomelli, Mari's studio project assistant, designer, curator and researcher.

Rare first edition Barbie™ amongst 180 dolls to star in Design Museum’s major exhibition

29 February 2024

Opening to mark the 65th anniversary of the Barbie brand, Barbie: The Exhibition, in partnership with Mattel, a leading global toy company, will feature over 180 remarkable dolls, with rare, unique and innovative Barbie dolls and accessories — plus one of the earliest editions.

The Design Museum launches Future Observatory display dedicated to design research on the environmental crisis

The Design Museum announces a new display space for design research responding to environmental crises, opening to the public on Monday 20 November 2023. This will be the first display in a series curated by Future Observatory, the Design Museum’s national research programme for the green transition coordinated in partnership with the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The Design Museum announces 2024 exhibition programme

The Design Museum today reveals its full exhibition programme for 2024, with three major figures taking centre stage.

Visitors will be able to step into the world of director and creative force Tim Burton in a major exhibition from October, just in time for Halloween. One of the most significant Italian designers of the 20th century — Enzo Mari — will have a career-spanning retrospective from March. And coinciding with the 65th anniversary of the Barbie brand in 2024, a major show from July will explore the design evolution of one of the world’s most famous dolls.

Meet the Design Museum's new Design Researchers in Residence

The Design Museum announces a new cohort of Design Researchers in Residence, who will spend the next year at the museum developing innovative projects that respond to the climate emergency. This year’s residents will respond to the theme of ‘Solar’, and their projects will span retrofit architecture, community energy, plant scent adaptation, and landscape preservation.

The Conran Foundation funds Design Museum Chief Curator post

The Design Museum announces that The Conran Foundation will fund its Chief Curator position, which will now be named the Conran Foundation Chief Curator. Curator and design historian Johanna Agerman Ross is taking on this role, following the announcement of her appointment as Design Museum Chief Curator earlier this year.

Barbie

Opening to coincide with the 65th anniversary of the Barbie brand in 2024, the exhibition will map the Barbie legacy that started in 1959 when Ruth Handler wanted to craft a different narrative for her daughter, Barbara. It will explore the story of Barbie through a design lens, including fashion, architecture, furniture and vehicle design.

Skateboard

Skateboard will chronicle the history of skateboard design from the 1950s to the present day, from homemade, humble beginnings to today’s professional and technologically advanced models.

Curated and designed by author, designer, and skater Jonathan Olivares, this will be the first UK exhibition to explore the evolution of skateboard design in such detail.

How to Build a Low-Carbon Home

With almost 30% of global carbon emissions caused by the construction and running of buildings, there is a need radically rethink the materials we use to build our towns and cities. Rather than radical novelties, visitors will see how seemingly traditional wood, stone and straw are being revolutionised for contemporary homes.

REBEL: 30 Years of London Fashion

Opening to coincide with London Fashion Week, this landmark exhibition will be one of the most wide-ranging surveys of contemporary fashion culture ever staged in the UK. It will offer an unprecedented look at how careers in fashion are forged, and the multitude of opportunities London’s fashion scene offers young creatives.

the Design Kitchen

Named the Design Kitchen, award-winning interior designer Matthew Williamson has brought his warm style and use of vibrant colour and vintage pieces to create a new space for visitors to enjoy on the museum’s second floor. His design scheme for the room was inspired by the Kitchen’s stunning views of Holland Park.

The Design Museum has partnered with independent catering company Leafi to provide the new food and drink offer, which includes a range of sustainably sourced breakfast and lunch options.

Design Researchers in Residence 2022/23: Islands

In a temporary display, our four Design Researchers in Residence showcase their responses to the theme of 'Islands' through a diverse selection of projects that cover architecture, graphics, multispecies design and engineering.

The Offbeat Sari

A major exhibition celebrating the contemporary sari. Curated by our Head of Curatorial, Priya Khanchandani, this exhibition will unravel its numerous forms, demonstrating the sari to be a metaphor for the layered and complex definitions of India today. It will bring together dozens of the finest saris of our time from designers, wearers and craftspeople in India.

Stuart Roden appointed as Chair of the Board of Trustees

The Design Museum announces that Stuart Roden has been appointed as Chair of the Board of Trustees. He replaces Lord Mandelson who steps down in June at the end of his current term, having served as Chair since 2017.

Ai Weiwei’s largest-ever Lego artwork

In advance of his first design-focused exhibition, the Design Museum unveils a major new work by celebrated global artist Ai Weiwei. Constructed entirely of Lego, the work is a recreation of one the most famous paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet. It is the largest Lego artwork Ai Weiwei has ever made.

Titled Water Lilies #1, the work is over 15m in length and will span the entire length of one of the walls in the Design Museum gallery. It is made from nearly 650,000 studs of Lego bricks, in 22 colours.

Ai Weiwei: Making Sense

Ai Weiwei's first exhibition focusing on design will mix recent works with commissioned pieces, inviting us into a meditation on value and humanity, art and activism. This major exhibition, developed in collaboration with the artist, will be the first to present his work as a commentary on design and what it reveals about our changing values. Through his engagement with material culture, Ai explores the tension between past and present, hand and machine, precious and worthless, construction and destruction.

Discover some of the artist’s most important works displayed alongside collections of objects that have never been seen and new commissions made for the exhibition.

Yinka Ilori: PARABLES FOR HAPPINESS

The free display coincides with London Design Festival 2022 and delves into the colourful world of artist and designer Yinka Ilori. PARABLES FOR HAPPINESS celebrates a unique mix of cultural influences and unpacks the ingredients of a diasporic visual language.

The display will highlight some of the most important aspects of Ilori’s work – such as his billboard graphics that promote joy – and will place them beside key influences, especially Nigerian textiles. These African fabrics of his childhood are the foundation of his practice, and he regularly captures the colourful geometric patterns that feature in Nigerian design in his wor

The Design Museum announces 2023 exhibition programme

Skateboards, saris and the very first design exhibition by Ai Weiwei are among the highlights of the 2023 exhibition programme at the Design Museum.

Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today

For the first time in a major UK exhibition, Surrealism’s relationship to the design world will be told up to the present day. Artworks and objects from Man Ray, Salvador Dalí, Marcel Duchamp and Leonora Carrington will be seen alongside pieces by Sarah Lucas, Björk, Tim Walker and Dior.

Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design 1924 – Today will open at the Design Museum in London in October. It will survey the groundbreaking Surrealism movement and how it not only revolutionised art, but also design: from decorative arts and furniture to interiors, fashion, photography and film. This is the first time the Design Museum has explored the relationship of fine art to design on this scale in a major exhibition.

WEIRD SENSATION FEELS GOOD

Millions around the world are part of an online community who experience ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response): a physical sensation of euphoria or deep calm, sometimes a tingling in the body, triggered through sound, touch, and movement.

Curated in collaboration with ArkDes, the Swedish Centre for Architecture and Design, this is the first exhibition of its kind to lift the world of ASMR out from your screen and into physical space. Step into an acoustically tuned environment and understand how people are using new and existing tools and materials to navigate our complex world.

Football: Designing the Beautiful Game

Football is unquestionably the world’s most popular sport, with a dedicated fan base and truly international reach. It is estimated that more than half the population of the planet - around 3.5 billion people - watched part of the FIFA World Cup in 2018.

Produced in partnership with the National Football Museum in Manchester, this exhibition reveals the master-planning of the world’s most significant football stadiums, the design innovation used in today’s boots, and how the graphic design of team badges, kits and posters shape a club's identity and how grassroots initiatives are pushing back against the sport’s commercialisation.

Bethany Williams: : Alternative Systems

Featuring garments made from recycled book waste to collaborations with community projects, this free display features the work of London-based designer Bethany Williams, who is building a practice that seeks to avoid the usual contradictions of fashion and embraces the discussion of social and environmental issues. The display also includes her collaboration as part of the Emergency Designer Network and the creation of PPE during the pandemic.

The Conran Effect

The Design Museum unveils free display celebrating the life and work of its founder, Sir Terence Conran, to mark what would have been the 90th birthday of the acclaimed British designer.

One of the most influential design-led entrepreneurs of his generation, Sir Terence Conran, who died last year, was a champion of design education and the creative industries in Britain throughout his life. He founded the Design Museum in 1989.

Amy: Beyond the Stage

Celebrate the creativity and legacy of one of the great artists of our time in this first major retrospective exhibition on the British musician Amy Winehouse at the Design Museum.

Marking the 10-year anniversary of Amy’s death, the exhibition delves into her emergence as an artist, the musical influences that she drew on, her key albums Frank and Back to Black, and the story behind her iconic beehive, as well as many of her most memorable fashion moments.

Meet the incredible musical artists who influenced Amy’s career from Dinah Washington to Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan to The Supremes and find out about the range of genres she drew on, from jazz to 1960s pop.

The Design Museum announces 2022 exhibition programme

In the build up to the 2022 World Cup, the Design Museum presents the first major exhibition on the design of the world’s most popular sport, football. This exhibition will reveal how human creativity has pushed the game to its technical and emotional limits.

In spring 2022, step into a sensory playground with ‘Weird Sensation Feels Good’ as the Design Museum explores the internet sensation that is ASMR.

Looking ahead to autumn, discover how Surrealism has influenced design for the past 100 years, with Objects of Desire: Surrealism and Design.

Design Museum launches new 8-week accelerator programme for entrepreneurs

The Design Museum opens call for entries for Entrepreneurs Hub, a first of its kind programme to support and accelerate 15 emerging design-led startups from diverse disciplines and backgrounds.

The new 8-week programme will offer participants mentoring, business advice and exposure to industry leaders to help turn their business ideas into viable concepts.

Concluding with a fundraising pitch, the scheme is built with accessibility, inclusion and diversity at its core, aimed at creatives who may have felt locked out of design opportunities in the past.

Waste Age: What can design do?

23 October 2021 – 20 February 2022

To coincide with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26), the Design Museum will host an exhibition showing what design can do to tackle the critical problem of waste and its environmental consequences across the globe.

The exhibition will showcase the visionary designers that are reinventing our relationship with waste, including contributions from Formafantasma, Stella McCartney, The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, Fernando Laposse, Bethany Williams, Phoebe English, Natsai Audrey Chieza and more.

For the first time, exhibition visitors will be able to see new commissions that confront the waste problem including, a large-scale art installation by Ibrahim Mahama made from e-waste in Ghana.

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® opens Supermarket at the Design Museum, an art installation to show that creativity is essential

20 April 2021

As public art institutions and galleries remain closed, BOMBAY SAPPHIRE gin has teamed up with the Design Museum and Camille Walala to reopen the iconic museum’s shop as an essential store. All items are designed by a collective of emerging artists, making creativity accessible to all.

Designers in Residence: Care

7 April 2021

Designers in Residence is the Design Museum’s flagship programme to support emerging designers at an early stage in their careers.

Carrying out their residency at home and in virtual environments, the all-female cohort will reveal their final projects in an interactive digital showcase which goes live on 7 April.

Responding to the theme of ‘Care’, this year’s residents explore mental health within Black British communities, rethinking the role of empathy between humans and nature, our relationship to microbes inside urban environments and a fashion collection inspired by traditional local crafts in Nigeria.

Charlotte Perriand: The Modern Life

19 June – 5 September 2021

The Design Museum, London puts a spotlight on the work of one of the giants of 20th century design, a free spirit who championed good design for all.

Marking 25 years since the last significant presentation in London, follow Charlotte Perriand’s creative process through sketches, photographs, scrapbooks, prototypes and final pieces.

Step inside recreations of some of her most famous interiors, such as the apartment designed for the Salon d’Automne in 1929, and sit on furniture she designed, including the iconic Chaise Longue Basculante and the Fauteuil Pivotant.

Sneakers Unboxed: From Studio to Street

18 May – 24 October 2021

The Design Museum, in London opens a major exhibition exploring one of the most universal design objects, bought and worn by millions of people worldwide every day.

From sneakers originally designed for specific athletic activities such as the Converse Chuck Taylor All Star, the Puma Disc, and Nike Alpha fly Next%, to their cultural resonance across the globe, discover how the shoe became the undisputed cultural symbol of our times.

See-saw at the border wall between the USA and Mexico named best design of 2020

19 January 2021

The Design Museum names temporary interactive installation the ‘Teeter-Totter Wall’, designed by architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello with Colectivo Chopeke, as the Beazley Design of the Year 2020.

The project created a place where children from both countries could connect playfully through three bright pink see-saws.

Other winners include an illustration of the COVID-19 virus, the vegan Impossible Burger 2.0 designed to replicate a beef burger, and a protest performance denouncing sexual violence towards women and LGBTQ communities in Latin America.

The Design Museum launches new digital collaboration with creative studio Play Nice to platform black creatives from London’s music scene

1 December 2020

The Design Museum, in partnership with creative studio Play Nice, are set to launch a new digital film on Tuesday 1 December.

Celebrating the contributions of the black diaspora to electronic music, starting with some of London’s black owned record labels, music groups and DJs including Errol Anderson, Tash LC, Tommy Gold and Shy One.

As well as exploring the heritage of the dance genre curated in the Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers exhibition, the film delves into the artists’ experiences through the pandemic, journeys into their craft and hopes for the future of the nightlife scene.

The film also marks the launch of Play Nice’s ‘Field Trip’ project that will provide free tickets and experiences in the cultural industry to people from fringe communities, including special access to the Electronic exhibition through the Design Museum’s ‘Ticket Mate Fund’, a pay it forward scheme in partnership with local charities.

The Design Museum announces Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers – The Virtual Tour and Q&A in collaboration with Facebook

Now closed

Join the Design Museum for the world premiere of the online curated tour of sell-out exhibition Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers, launching on 17 December 2020 with an exclusive live panel talk with guests to be announced soon.

The Virtual Tour will give viewers the opportunity to experience a specially curated tour of the Electronic exhibition from home.

Curators will guide viewers through key moments in the exhibition, alongside exclusive interviews from Jean-Michel Jarre, Shiva Feshareki, Alan Oldham, A Guy Called Gerald, Smith & Lyall, Judas Companion, Kate Moross, Pier Schneider and François Wunschel of 1024 Architecture, Yuri Suzuki, Weirdcore and more.

Design Museum announces Beazley Designs of the Year nominees

21 October 2020 - 28 March 2021

The Design Museum announces 74 nominees for the thirteenth annual exhibition and awards - revealing the most game-changing designs of the last year.

Nominees include 15-year-old Jalaiah Harmon, creator of online dance sensation Renegade, a set of plasters suitable for a range of skin tones by Nuditone, virtual musician, social activist and model Lil Miquela, the set design for award-winning film Parasite, The Uncensored Library in Minecraft and a low-cost modular school that can be built and dismantled in a few hours.

Health and sanitisation are major themes in this year’s awards, as seen in the Water Box Mobile Filtration System supported by Jaden Smith, the Leishenshan Hospital constructed in Wuhan by 10,000 workers in 10 days, the world's first reusable cotton swab and a self-sanitising door handle.

The Design Museum announces 2021 programme

1 October 2020

A major retrospective on French designer Charlotte Perriand, a giant of 20th century design who helped define modern life, opens March 2021.

Know your Air Jordans from your Air Force 1s? ‘Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street’ exploring sneaker performance, subculture and fashion is finally dropping next spring.

The earth is suffocating under the burden of one material: waste. A major new exhibition, ‘Waste Age’, in autumn 2021 will show what the design industry can do about this, with your help.

The Design Museum mourns the loss of its founder, design visionary, Sir Terence Conran

12 September 2020

Terence Conran, founder of the Design Museum, designer, philanthropist and businessman, has passed away on Saturday 12 September, he was 88 years old.

Through a series of parallel careers, Sir Terence Conran had a greater impact than any other designer of his generation, revolutionising everyday life in contemporary Britain.

Margaret Calvert: Woman at Work

21 October 2020 – 10 January 2021

The Design Museum announces display celebrating the work of graphic design pioneer, Margaret Calvert.

The display explores Calvert's co-designed wayfinding systems for transport networks across the UK and her impact on modern information design, alongside insight into her creative process and 'play’ projects.

In collaboration with Network Rail, the display also celebrates the launch of the new customised typeface designed by Calvert in collaboration with Henrik Kubel, Rail Alphabet 2, which will be introduced through several waves of new Network Rail design manuals and rolled out across selected Network Rail managed stations.

2020 Designers in Residence announced by the Design Museum

18 August 2020

The Design Museum’s flagship scheme discovers and supports new and emerging talent at an early stage in their career.

The selected designers are announced for the thirteenth edition of the programme.

Responding to the theme of ‘Care’ this year’s all female cohort will explore empathy training, microbial diversity, mental health in Black British communities and a new collection of clothing inspired by the stories of West African women living in the UK.

Starting their residency in a post Covid19 environment, each designer will initially capture the early stages of their projects virtually, before creating an onsite installation.

The Design Museum in London to reopen on Friday 31 July with Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers

9 July 2020

The Design Museum will begin the first phase of its post-lockdown reopening plans on Friday 31 July 2020 with the opening of temporary exhibition ‘Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers’.

New ‘Safe and Sound’ safety procedures will be in place, including reduced capacity, mandatory face coverings, social distancing, enhanced cleaning and more.

Reopening marks the launch of ‘Ticket Mate Fund’ – a new pay it forward scheme in partnership with local charities that distribute free exhibition tickets in the local community.

To support local heroes, NHS workers will have a special exhibition preview day and benefit from concession discount at all other times.

Design Museum launches Digital Design Calendar to bring the museum into homes around the globe

31 March 2020

From 1 April 2020, the Design Museum will launch a new calendar of online content to bring design into the homes of over 5 million of its digital followers across the globe.

Its new digital calendar includes lesson plans and activities for children at home with the Young Design Museum programme, a series of ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions for adults in new Learn with the Design Museum series and a roster of Instagram Lives with leading designers called #DesignDispatches.

Partners include BBC Studios, Royal College of Art and Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; and collaborators include designer Ron Arad, fashion designers Christopher Raeburn, Amanda Wakeley and Bella Freud, designer Morag Myerscough and interior designers 2LG Studio.

The programme will deliver the museum’s mission to make the impact of design visible by connecting design with people’s lives and passions online during the temporary closure of its landmark building.

The Design Museum in London to close temporarily due to COVID-19 pandemic from 18 March 2020

18 March 2020

Following official advice released by Government and Public Health England on Monday 16 March 2020, the Design Museum will be temporarily closed to the public from 18 March 2020 until further notice.

Temporary exhibitions Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers and Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street, originally planned to open in April and May, will be postponed.

Electronic: From Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers

1 April – 26 July 2020

The Design Museum in London launches new exhibition exploring the hypnotic world of electronic music, from its origins to its futuristic dreams.

Discover how design, technology and innovation powered the genre in the work of visionaries including Kraftwerk, The Chemical Brothers, Jeff Mills, Daphne Oram, Jean-Michel Jarre and Aphex Twin.

Experience the museum premiere of electronic pioneers The Chemical Brothers’ sensory spectacle by creative studio Smith & Lyall featuring mesmerising visuals for the Grammy Award-winning track ‘Got to Keep On’.

This exhibition makes connections between electronic music and contemporary design, fashion and art. Including works from Charles Jeffrey of Loverboy, Andreas Gursky, Peter Saville, Boiler Room, the Designers Republic, Christian Marclay, Jeremy Deller and more.

The Design Museum announces 2020 exhibitions

13 November 2019

Following record-breaking visitor numbers in 2019, the Design Museum, London announces its forthcoming exhibition programme.

The first major museum exhibition of one of the world’s most influential fashion houses, ‘Prada. Front and Back’, to open in September 2020.

Experience the story of electronic music and journey through dancefloors around the globe in a multi-sensory exhibition delving into the technology behind electronic music and legends of the era, opening in April 2020.

Know your Air Jordans from your Air Force 1s? Stay tuned for ‘Sneakers Unboxed: Studio to Street’ – an exploration into sneaker performance, subculture and fashion, dropping May 2020.

Designing Duggee launches at the Design Museum

25 October 2019

Designing Duggee exhibition opens at the Design Museum, London for half term weekend and Christmas dates.

BBC Studios and the Design Museum announce new Hey Duggee activity workshops to launch in December.

Hey Duggee pop up shop to showcase exclusive Designing Duggee prints and gifts.

Tim Marlow appointed as the new Chief Executive and Director of the Design Museum

7 October 2019

The Design Museum announced today that Tim Marlow has been appointed as the new Chief Executive and Director of the Design Museum. He replaces Deyan Sudjic and Alice Black who stepped down as Co-Directors. Tim Marlow is currently Artistic Director of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Deyan Sudjic and Alice Black to step down as Co-Directors of the Design Museum

4 October 2019

After over a decade at the Design Museum helm, co-directors Deyan Sudjic OBE and Alice Black will step down from their leadership positions at the end of January 2020.

Beazley Designs of the Year 2019

11 September 2019 - 9 February 2020

The Design Museum announces the 76 nominees for the twelfth Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition and awards – revealing the most innovative designs of the last 12 months.

Nominees include a meme inspired dress collection by Viktor & Rolf, a data generated proxy address system created to reduce homelessness, the world’s first hands free breast pump, Adidas’s collaboration with designer Ji Won Choi, as worn by Beyoncé, food sharing app OLIO and The Shed’s extendable building in New York.

Accessible designs represent a major theme in this year’s awards, as seen in IKEA’s ThisAbles collection, Tommy Hilfiger’s Adaptive clothing range and Chromat’s AW19 fashion collection.

Moving to Mars

18 October 2019 – 23 February 2020

The Design Museum launches a new exhibition that explores how sending humans to Mars is not just a new frontier for science but also for design.

Over 150 exhibits including original objects and material from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), SpaceX, Raymond Loewy, Chesley Bonestell plus new commissions from responsible design company RÆBURN, Anna Talvi and Konstantin Grcic tell the complete story of designing for Mars.

Two major installations enable visitors to get closer to life on Mars: ‘On Mars Today’, a multisensory experience of the Red Planet and a full-scale prototype habitat by international design firm Hassell.

The exhibition also questions whether we should be designing for Mars at all. In an installation modelling an alternative scenario running over a million years, Dr. Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg uses a gaming engine to simulate Mars colonised only by plants, not humans.

The Design Museum celebrates 30th birthday with 30p tickets

4 July 2019

The Design Museum celebrates 30 years since first opening to the public on 4 July 1989.

50 tickets priced at 30p will be available on Thursday 4 July for each of the current exhibitions, Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition and David Adjaye: Making Memory.

The museum will host a late evening of music and activities on 5 July 2019, with a special Friday Night Sketch and a live music performance from the Unit 137 sound system.

To mark the anniversary, over 30 leading and emerging designers have contributed a graphic icon inspired by the number 30, including Quentin Blake, Peter Saville, Margaret Calvert and Sir Antony Gormley.

Designers in Residence announced by Design Museum

10 June 2019

The Design Museum’s flagship scheme discovers and supports new and emerging talent.

The selected designers are announced and congratulated by The Rt Hon Elizabeth Truss MP for the twelfth edition of the programme.

Nanotechnology, food waste, material surfaces and child birth are areas that the residents will explore in response to the theme Cosmic.

The Design Museum opens nominations for Beazley Designs of the Year to the public

21 March 2019

To celebrate the museum's 30th anniversary, the Design Museum, London invites the public to nominate designs from the last twelve months to be considered for this year’s Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition.

The museum welcomes Beatrice Galilee, Associate Curator of Architecture and Design at The Metropolitan Museum of Art as curator of this year’s exhibition.

Stanley Kubrick: The Exhibition

26 April - 15 September 2019

The Design Museum, London celebrates the work of one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century.

Marking the 20th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s death, the exhibition explores his unique command of the whole creative design process of film making, from story teller to director to editor.

Relive iconic scenes and discover unseen material from his genre-defining films, including The Shining, Barry Lyndon, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Full Metal Jacket and A Clockwork Orange.

The exhibition includes important works by designers Hardy Amies, Saul Bass, Milena Canonero and Ken Adam, art and photography from Diane Arbus, Allen Jones and Don McCullin, designs from Saul Bass, Elliot Noyes and Pascall Morgue alongside contributions from renowned directors.

David Adjaye: Making Memory

02 February – 05 May 2019

The Design Museum presents a new exhibition that explores the role of monuments and memorials in the 21st century, through seven projects by celebrated British–Ghanaian architect, Sir David Adjaye OBE.

The exhibition features projects such as the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington D.C, the new National Cathedral of Ghana in Accra and the UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre in London.

Highlights include a full-scale section of the Sclera Pavilion for London Design Festival 2008, a replica library area from the Gwangju River Reading Room in South Korea, as well as inspiration materials including a sculpture by the early 20th-century Yoruba artist Olowe of Ise.

Percentage of women in design workforce has remained virtually unchanged in over a decade

05 December 2018

As it marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, London’s Design Museum today reveals shocking gender imbalance in the design industry.

New analysis by the Design Museum reveals that women are underrepresented in the UK design workforce. ONS figures show that as of March 2018 only 22% of those working in occupations associated with design were women. This represents an increase of only 4% since 2004, when only 18% of those employed in the design industry were women.

The Design Museum launches new Design in Britain campaign

27 November 2018

‘Design in Britain – powering a new industrial age’ is the Design Museum’s campaign to show that design matters politically, economically and publicly. The campaign aims to connect new technologies with world-leading products and services.

Beazley Designs of the Year 2018 winners announced

16 November 2018

Counter Investigations: Forensic Architecture exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London is crowned the Beazley Design of the Year 2018.

Forensic Architecture uncover miscarriages of justice and international war crimes through the architectural analysis of imagery – from official news to satellite footage.

Further category winners included: Erdem in the Fashion Category for Royal Ballet costumes for Christopher Wheeldon’s production of Corybantic Games and Thomas Heatherwick’s’ Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa for the Architecture Category.

Home Futures

07 November 2018 – 24 March 2019

Twentieth-century prototypes are compared with the latest innovations in domestic living to question whether yesterday’s fantasies have become today’s reality.

Organised in partnership with the IKEA Museum, the exhibition explores the radical domestic visions of the 20th century and asks: what happened to the future?

The exhibition includes important works by Ettore Sottsass, Joe Colombo, Superstudio, Archigram, Alison and Peter Smithson, Hans Hollein, Jan Kaplicky, OMA and Dunne & Raby.

2019 Exhibition Programme at the Design Museum

The Design Museum in London, European Museum of the Year, announces its forthcoming exhibition programme.

Design Museum announces Beazley Designs of the Year nominees

12 September 2018 - 06 January 2019

The Design Museum announces the 87 nominees for the eleventh Beazley Designs of the Year exhibition and awards – revealing the most innovate designs of the last year.

Nominees include a water bottle by Will and Jaden Smith, Nike’s crest for the Dutch women’s football team by Wieden+Kennedy and the LEGO House by Bjarke Ingels Group.

Concern over the environment is a major theme, as seen in Formafantasma’s recycled furniture, LADbible’s Trash Isles campaign and an animation illustrating the dangers of mounting space debris.

Letter from the museum's Directors about Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-18

The museum has entered into a dialogue with exhibitors to keep the exhibition intact for the public to continue to see its broad message.

Mind-powered airship to fly in the Design Museum’s atrium for London Design Festival

The Design Museum has announced a major new London Design Festival installation, Mind-Pilot, an airship that can be controlled by visitors. For eight days during the festival, the spatial laboratory Loop.pH will animate the Design Museum’s atrium with an interactive, site-specific installation called Mind Pilot.

Designers in Residence 2018

The Design Museum in London announces the four designers selected for the 2018 edition of Designers in Residence. Chosen by a distinguished panel, the designers will now take up residency in the museum’s in-house studio for the next seven months. Responding to the theme of ‘Dwelling’, they will explore and develop new work that presents thought-provoking ideas and challenges conventional boundaries in design.

Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier

10 May 2018 – 07 October 2018

Conceived and co-curated with Monsieur Alaïa prior to his death in November 2017.

The exhibition examines the work of one of the most respected fashion designers in history.

Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics 2008-18

28 March 2018 – 12 August 2018

The exhibition examines the political graphic design of a turbulent decade.

Alongside traditional posters and banners, it charts the rise of digital media and social networking, which have given graphic iconography an extraordinary new reach.

Design Museum 2018 exhibition programme

The Design Museum in London announces its forthcoming exhibition programme following a record-breaking opening year in Kensington.

Jon Snow: Colour is my Brand

Pop-up display opens exploring the design process behind Jon Snow’s distinctive tie collection.

Ferrari: Under the Skin

The Design Museum in London announces Ferrari: Under the Skin, a major exhibition exploring the history and design of Ferrari.

Nominees for Beazley Designs of the Year announced

The Design Museum announces the shortlist for the tenth anniversary of its annual exhibition and awards celebrating the world’s best design.

Introducing the 2017 Designers in Residence

2017 is the tenth year of the Design Museum’s annual Designers in Residence programme which provides a platform to celebrate new and emerging designers at an early stage in their career.

California: designing freedom

From skateboards to iPhones and start-up garages, the exhibition explores how “designed in California” expresses a distinctive approach to design and life.

Imagine Moscow: architecture, propaganda, revolution

The exhibition explores six unbuilt architectural landmarks in Moscow from the 1920s and 1930s following the Russian Revolution.

Design Museum 2017 programme

The Design Museum announces exhibition programme for opening year in its new building on Kensington High Street, London.

Leadership news from the design museum

The Design Museum, which opened in its new home in Kensington on 24 November, has announced two new appointments. Lord Mandelson is appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of Trustees. He will replace current Chairman, Luqman Arnold in March 2017. Alice Black, Deputy Director of the museum, will become Co-Director with Deyan Sudjic.

Fear and Love – reactions to a complex world

Eleven new installations by a selection of the world’s leading designers unveiled in the opening exhibition of new Design Museum in Kensington. Exhibition includes works by OMA, Hussein Chalayan, Kenya Hara and Neri Oxman.

The Design Museum goes ‘On Loan’ for London Design Festival

The Design Museum loans out objects, curators and even its Director this London Design Festival 2016. Pop-up displays to be located throughout London whilst new home in Kensington is under construction.

Nominees for Beazley Designs of the Year announced

The Design Museum’s annual exhibition and awards celebrating the world’s best designs returns for its ninth instalment. Nominees include the last David Bowie album cover, a robot surgeon and a drinkable book. The exhibition will form part of the opening programme at the Design Museum’s spectacular new home in Kensington.

The Design Museum unveils Adopt an Object campaign

On the day that the Design Museum formally left Shad Thames in London, they announced the launch of their fundraising campaign, Adopt an Object. The campaign will attempt to raise over £200,000 towards the £1 million needed to cover the construction costs of their new premises in Kensington High Street.

Older Generation are ‘Power Users’ of Health Tech

Older generations are leading the way in the adoption of new technologies to improve their own health and wellbeing that could generate more value from the NHS, according to the conclusions heard at a recent Parliamentary reception.

Introducing the 2016 Designers in Residence

2016 is the ninth year of the Design Museum’s annual Designers in Residence programme which provides a platform to celebrate new and emerging designers at an early stage in their career.

Health Tech & You Returns For Second Year

AXA PPP Health Tech & You - a joint initiative led by AXA PPP healthcare with think tank 2020health and the Design Museum - launches its second year as entries opened for the 2016 Health Tech & You Awards and the results of a new ‘State of the Nation’ survey on attitudes to health tech were announced at an event at Campus London, a Google space.

50 Years of British Road Signs

The Design Museum celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Calvert and Kinneir British road signage system with a free installation of new and original signs, and archive material curated by MADE NORTH.

Cycle Revolution: 18 November 2015 – 30 June 2016 at the Design Museum

As Britain enjoys an explosion of interest in two-wheeled travel, the Design Museum looks at the people and machines that make contemporary cycling what it is, and asks how it might develop in the future.

Asif Khan joins Design Museum Board of Trustees

The Design Museum is pleased to announce that British architectural talent Asif Khan has been appointed to its board of trustees.

Designers in Residence: Migration - 9 September 2015 – 31 March 2016 at the Design Museum

Now in its eighth year, Designers in Residence invites four emerging talents from the world of design to take over a gallery in the Design Museum, using it as a site from which to provoke conversations, actions and thoughts around different conceptions of migration.

London Design Festival at the Design Museum

The Design Museum’s programme for the London Design Festival features exhibitions, events and installations – taking over the museum to celebrate rising talent, new ideas and rich legacies in the capital’s home of design.

Microchips lined with human cells named Design of the Year 2015

Human Organs-on-Chips, designed by Donald Ingber and Dan Dongeun Huh at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute, has won the Design Museum Design of the Year Award for 2015.

Designs of the Year 2015 celebrated at Design Museum awards evening

The global design community was out in force at the Design Museum on Monday 22 June to celebrate the 2015 Designs of the Year.

Design Museum Shop - Summer of Cycling

As the museum prepares for its Cycle Revolution exhibition (opening 18 November) innovative items for the bike-minded this summer.

London Festival of Architecture at the Design Museum

The Design Museum is once again part of the London Festival of Architecture (LFA) - a celebration of architectural experimentation, thinking and practice, which takes place across the city throughout June 2015.

Talks, Things to do and Family Fun: June - August 2015

Full information on Design Museum events for summer 2015. Highlights include an series of talks for the London Festival of Architecture, walking tours to coincide with Life of Foot: Camper at the Design Museum, and Create and Make sessions on DIY gamer animation and electro-dough with Technology Will Save Us.

Designs of the Year 2015: Category Winners announced by London Design Museum

The Design Museum reveals the six category winners for its annual Designs of the Year Awards. Designs of the Year celebrates design that promotes or delivers change, enables access, extends design practice or captures the spirit of the year.

designmuseum.org wins Webby People's Voice Award

The Design Museum has won a prestigious Webby Award. The 2015 Webby People’s Voice Award for Best Navigation / Structure was voted for by the public and saw the Design Museum’s recently re-launched website triumph over Google’s Customer Barometer, NASA’s GeneLab, ESPN’s Anatomy of a Pitch and WE THE ECONOMY.

Life on Foot: Camper at the Design Museum

Life on Foot marks the 40 year anniversary of the creative Spanish footwear brand Camper, with an exhibition that gives an unprecedented picture of how a shoe collection is researched, created and presented - from the carving of the last to the graphics on the box.

Design Museum Shop: Fresh ideas for Spring

The Design Museum presents a selection of fresh ideas for Spring, from Technology Will Save Us’s Thirsty Plant Kit to Scholten & Baijings’ Paper Porcelain espresso cup set. All products available at the museum in Shad Thames or via the online shop.

Design Museum Exhibitions 2015

Information on all Design Museum exhibitions for the remainder of 2015, including the first ever museum exhibition on the Spanish shoe brand Camper, a celebration of bicycle design, and the annual Designers in Residence show. Please note changes to the autumn programme from previously issued information.

Health Tech Revolution Showcased at Design Museum

From 10 March - 26 April visitors to the Design Museum can experience the latest innovations in personal health technology. As part of the first ever AXA PPP Health Tech & You Awards, the showcase offers the chance to see and interact with 24 shortlisted Awards entries, putting the health technology revolution into a wider context for the benefit of everyone who wants to improve and maintain their health.

Arts Council Awards Design Museum £3M

The Design Museum is very pleased to announce that it has been successful in its application to the Arts Council for a £3m grant towards the £80m capital project to build the new Design Museum at the former Commonwealth Institute in Kensington.

Designs of the Year 2015: Nominees Announced

2015’s Designs of the Year nominees represent the global breadth of design talent, featuring some of the industry’s biggest names alongside rising stars and little-known practices. Google’s self-driving car, Frank Gehry’s Fondation Louis Vuitton and Asif Kahn’s Sochi Olympic Megafaces are just some of the high-profile projects to be represented in the exhibition of nominees which opens at the Design Museum on 25 March.

Design Museum announces 2015 Design Ventura Prize

A panel of judges led by Sebastian Conran for the Design Museum’s annual Design Ventura celebrated the achievements of this year’s ten shortlisted schools at an exhibition and VIP reception at the Museum in London on Wednesday 11 February when the winning team for 2015 was announced. The project, with the theme of ‘Connect’ this year, challenges students aged 13 to 16 to meet a real-life design brief, with mentoring from professional designers and employees at Deutsche Bank, which has supported Design Ventura for five years as part of Born to Be, its youth engagement programme.

Lady Gaga joins 'Women Fashion Power' exhibition at the Design Museum

A Gareth Pugh outfit, created from shredded bin bags and worn by Lady Gaga for an O2 TV promo for her ARTPOP album, and to her artRAVE album launch party, goes on display for the first time at the Design Museum today (21 January 2015), as part of its WOMEN FASHION POWER exhibition.

Design Museum Talks, Things to do and Family Fun: January - March 2015

Full information on Design Museum events for early 2015. Highlights include an evening with AnOther magazine celebrating women and creativity, a masterclass in costume design with Suffragette’s Jane Petrie, and the chance for young visitors to customise some design classics in a drop-in illustration workshop. Author Dana Thomas will also be visiting the museum to discuss her new book - Gods and Kings, The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano.

Design Museum Shortlists ten schools to pitch for Design Ventura Prize

Ten schools from across the UK have been shortlisted from 241 schools to pitch their ideas for this year’s Design Ventura, run annually by the Design Museum. The project challenges students to meet a real-life design brief, with mentoring from professional designers and staff at Deutsche Bank, which has supported Design Ventura for five years. The winning team will see its product sold in the Design Museum shop, having been involved in all aspects of production, packaging, pricing and promotion.

Designers in Residence 2015: Migration - Call for entries open

The Design Museum has opened the call for entries for Designers in Residence 2015. Now in its eighth year, this prestigious programme celebrates new and emerging design talent through an annual residency which culminates in an exhibition at the Design Museum. This year's theme is 'migration'.

Chancellor of the exchequer George Osborne visits the Design Museum Kensington

17 October 2014

The Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne visited the Design Museum’s Kensington site today (17 October 2014) to announce the extension of the VAT refund scheme for museum and galleries to the Design Museum.

Women Fashion Power

29 October 2014 – 26 April 2015

From Elizabeth I to Margaret Thatcher, Coco Chanel to Lady Gaga, the clothes women wear have always been a powerful form of self-expression and part of a sophisticated visual language. Opening at the Design Museum this autumn, Women Fashion Power looks at how influential women have used fashion to define and enhance their position in the world.