The creative visionary who pioneered the vibrant Gorillaz characters has been crowned Designer of the Year by London’s Design Museum.
Jamie Hewlett collected the annual accolade last night and scooped the grand prize of £25,000 for illustrating the lead characters of the virtual band.
He was spotlighted for his exemplary design contribution to graphics, websites, animations and ‘live’ performances by the synthetic band, co-designed as a riposte to manufactured music.
Awarding the prize, jury chair Sir Christopher Frayling reportedly said, “Jamie Hewlett has not only created a personal mythology with the virtual band Gorillaz, he has also created designs for the direction in which technology and culture are going, the shape of things to come.”
Hewlett beat off strong competition from finalists including Tom Dixon, the furniture designer and Cameron Sinclair, the founder of a humanitarian design agency.
May 24, 2006
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