Blueprint Awards at 100% Design London

The Blueprint Awards at 100% Design are now in their 14th year. The awards are like a barometer, measuring the mood of the time: think of Konstantin Grcic's awkwardly beautiful Miura stool for Plank (best new product of 2005), which showed that great design does not have to be conventionally beautiful; or, in the same year, the discovery of the young Turkish design house Autoban (best new exhibitor) - an early clue that Istanbul would be worth watching as a design destination.

I pored over hundreds of images of products to come up with the shortlist for the four awards (best new product, best exhibition design, best use of materials, most promising new talent) and I can safely say that it's a challenge judging a light switch against a hand-woven rug. Some work that stands out for me this year is A Pile of Suitcases by Maarten De Ceulaer, and also work by the young Spanish designers Diego Ramos and Tomas Alonso. Ramos has designed an intriguing Graphite chair, while Alonso, who is part of the interesting new Okay Studio, is showing the 5° stool, an elegantly minimal series that appears to be strung together from rope and broom handles.