The Design of the Year Award

There's been a lot of chitter chatter about the folding plug designed by Min-Kyu Choi. On Wednesday he won the Brit Insurance Design of the Year Award, hosted by the Design Museum. Such a simple redesign of the original 1946 plug - doesn't it seem mad to think we've been lugging round those cumbersome chunks of plastic for the last 50 years. Ha!

I also really like this shortlisted work by Jason Bruges originally created for the WWF Pandamonium exhibition. The panda heads swivel and their eyes track your movement through the space. Jason took 100 standard coin-collecting units and rigged them up with thermal sensors and hidden motors.

I love the human engagement, playfulness, simplicity and how the idea shortcuts straight to the heart to make the concept of giving more entertaining and thought-provoking. Nice one.