The Design Guild Mark Awards 2023

We are lovers and champions of great British design, so we were thrilled to be involved with this year's coveted Design Guild Mark Awards. Last year, Emma was invited to join judging panel, featuring 15 other experts in the field of design, who were looking for creativity, innovation of materials and manufacture and a commitment to sustainable production.

The Design Guild Mark is unique in that the programme is not a competition with a ranking of entries and a winner; instead, the award is given to all designs that demonstrate to the jury that they represent the highest standards of originality in industrial design. The Design Guild Mark is awarded across 3 categories: Furniture, Interior Design Elements, and Lighting Design.

In March, the judges met with the shortlisted designers to discuss their products, before deliberating amongst themsleves to decide which would be awarded a Design Guild Mark.

Emma said, “It was great to be part of the judging panel for the DMG awards, which is so valuable in promoting considered and strong design for the professional arena. As before, it was a stimulating and interesting morning, with a broad range of applications and work, provoking lively discussion from the judging panel.”

Congratulations to the 30 outstanding submissions who were awarded a DGM for 2023 - find them all listed on the Design Guild Mark website.

The Design Guild Mark is awarded by The Furniture Makers’ Company, the City of London livery company and charity for the furnishing industry, to drive excellence and raise the profile of British industrial design. So it is unsurprising that the furniture category attracts a lot of entries, but we would love to see more textile designers put themselves forward for the 2024 awards. Submissions are usually requested by November, with a final deadline in January, and although applications are not being accepted yet, you can be prepared for later this year. Don't forget to share this with other British designers too!