Brit Insurance Design Awards reveals its strongest shortlist yet at the Design Museum in London.

Featuring ‘the world’s most compelling and progressive designs’ across architecture, fashion, furniture, graphics and transport’, the shortlist for the third annual Brit Insurance Design Awards has gone on show at the Design Museum in London.

The Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Exhibition, which runs until 6 June, features work nominated by industry experts such as design journalist Caroline Roux, who chose Raven Row, a new contemporary exhibition space in East London designed by 6a Architects.

A high-profile jury chaired by sculptor Antony Gormley and including product designer Tom Dixon, designer Morag Myerscough, and Janet Street-Porter who began her career in journalism as a fashion editor and who has had a career-long interest in architecture, will choose one winner from each of the seven categories; the overall winner will be announced on 16 March. The shortlist features Shigeru Ban Architects’ Carbon Fibre chair made of aluminium sandwiched between layers of carbon fibre, which, according to its designer, is ‘so light a child could lift it with their little finger’, and Herman Miller’s Setu Office Chair, which industrial designer Sam Hecht, who nominated it, described as ‘quite remarkable’ for the support and comfort it provides.

The exhibition’s curator Alex Newson said: ‘It’s interesting to see how themes of sustainability and social responsibility have emerged in this year’s nominations, revealing both the importance of economical and social change in design of the past 12 months.’ One such piece was Panda Eyes, an interactive installation designed by Jason Bruges Studio for WWF’s Pandamonium campaign, which featured 100 independently rotating panda collection boxes. Each react to a thermal-image camera, turning in unison to ‘confront’ the viewer.

The organisers say ‘this year’s nominations are perhaps the most varied yet’. And also some of the best.