Furniture and Product Design alumni scoops top award at 100% Design

Joe Wonham named winner of the Design Fresh: Product of the Year award at the annual London exhibition of design talent

Joe Wonham at new Designers earlier this year

Joe Wonham at New Designers this summer

A recent graduate from our BA (Hons) Furniture and Product Design course has been named winner of a top award at one of London’s most established trade events for industry professionals. Joe Wonham won the Design Fresh: Product of the Year award at 100% Design, which takes place annually at Olympia London, and brings together the best architects and designers in a huge showcase of inspiring new projects and products.

Joe, who graduated earlier this year, takes a unique, playful approach to the creative process as both an artist and designer, and continues to explore new methods and processes to keep his work original in a constantly evolving field. He was one of just four other makers to be recognised in the inaugural set of awards presented by Design Fresh, a platform for celebrating breakthrough design talent scouted at New Designers, and selected by Barbara Chandler, design editor of Homes & Property at the London Evening Standard. He scooped the Product of the Year award for his Eris Bar Stools, which explore how users emotionally connect with objects. Using a soft expanding foam, the bar stools demonstrate an organic texture, distinguishing the work from the strong geometric approach taken by many furniture designers.

Joe receiving his award at 100% Design

Product Design Principal Lecturer Chris Lamerton told us: “We are delighted for Joe’s success at winning the 100% Design award recently. He worked diligently throughout his final year, exploring form, aesthetic, materials and structure, the outcomes of which demonstrate a clear and well developed sensibility. Joe’s unbridled passion for exploration within the context of design will allow him to continually develop his ideas, ideologies and identity going forward.”

He added: “We recently invited Joe back to NTU to present his graduate story to the new cohort of final year students, outlining the pleasures and pitfalls incumbent in the final year of study. He has been an inspiration to them and we wish him all the best in his bright future. “