Sustained excellence in design
The British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) established the Royal Designer for Industry designation in 1936 to encourage high-quality industrial design and elevate the reputation of designers. It is given to persons who have demonstrated “consistent excellence in beautiful and efficient industrial design.” A Member of The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry has earned this qualification (founded in 1938). British nationals get the letters RDI after their names, whereas those who aren’t get the Honorary RDI after their names (HonRDI).
Their work encompasses various disciplines, including fashion, engineering, theatre, product design, graphics, and environmental design.
New RDIs are elected annually, and the Faculty continues supporting projects promoting design excellence, such as an annual Summer School for inventive young designers.
It is recognized as the most incredible honour in the United Kingdom in various design fields, including industrial design. Only 200 designers are allowed to have the RDI distinction at any given time. Furthermore, the RSA may bestow HonRDI titles on up to half of the people who now possess the RDI designation.
At the annual RDI Dinner, new RDIs are presented with diplomas. Past Masters, including Dinah Casson, Mike Dempsey, Sir Kenneth Grange, Geoffrey Harcourt, Martin Hunt, Timothy O’Brien, Chris Wise, Malcolm Garrett, and Tristram Carfrae, elect a new Master of the Faculty every two years. Mark Major is the current Master.
Sources
Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing.
More Design Groups
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Atika (1987 – 1999) – Czech Design Group
Formed in 1987, Atika was aligned with the Anti-Design orientation of Archizoom, Alchimia, and Memphis in Italy. One of its goals was to support Post-Modernism, seeking an outlet for experimentation and new means of expression. Its expressive language used signs of symbolic meanings that referred to nature, society, and urban destruction. Read More →
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Gruppo 9999 Italian Architecture and Design Group
Gruppo 9999 was a group of radical architects founded in Florence in 1968 by Giorgio Birelli, Carlo Caldini, Fabrizio Fiumi and Paolo Galli. Read More →
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Archizoom avant-garde Italian design studio
Four architects—Andrea Branzi, Gilberto Corretti, Paolo Deganello, Massimo Morozzi—and two designers—Dario Bartolini and Lucia Bartolini—founded Archizoom this Italian avant-garde design studio in 1966 in Florence, Italy. They focused on exhibition installations and architecture and designing interiors and goods as part of the Italian Anti-Design or Radical Design movement.Read More →
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Royal Designer for Industry – high-quality industrial design
The British Royal Society of Arts (RSA) established the Royal Designer for Industry designation in 1936 to encourage high-quality industrial design and elevate the reputation of designers. It is given to persons who have demonstrated “consistent excellence in beautiful and efficient industrial design.”Read More →
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Deutscher Werkbund German artistic and production association
The organisation, Deutscher Werkund was founded in Munich (1907) to improve products’ design through the joint efforts of artists, craftsmen, and manufacturers: its leading lights were Behrens, Theodor Fischer, Hermann Muthesius and Fritz Schumacher.Read More →
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Memphis Group – it has little to do with Tennessee
Memphis was a movement in interior design introduced at the annual Milan Furniture Fair in 1981. It consisted of a group led by Memphis guru Ettore Sottass of avant-garde Italian designers. With outrageous interpretations of traditional furnishings and accessories, Memphis shocked the traditionally quiet industry.Read More →
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Unit One avant-garde 🇬🇧 group of architects, designers, 🎨 artists
Unit One was a British avant-garde community of architects and fine artists were created by designer, artist, and teacher Paul Nash to encourage Modernism in art and architecture in England. Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Ben Nicholson were among the group’s most prominent members, as were the architects’ Wells Coates and Colin Lucas. Read More…
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Group of Ten (est. 1970) 🇸🇪 design collective promoting creative individuality
Because its members had previous careers in the textile industry, they wanted to be free to promote their creative ideas. Read More →
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Groupe des Cinq French fraternity of designers
Its members included Pierre Chareau, Raymond Templier, Dominique (André Domin and Marcel Genevriere), and Pierre Legrain. In 1926 and 1927, they showed their work as the Groupe des Cinq at Galerie Barbazanges, Paris. The gallery, at 109 rue du Faubourg St. Honoré, was designed by André Lurcat. The association is not to be confused with…
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Société des Artistes Décorateurs (Society of Decorative Artists) – France
The creation in 1901 of the Société des Artistes Décorateurs (SAD) reflected the increasing significance in France of this new profession of Decorative Arts. This resulted from a series of government-funded projects carried out in the fine and applied arts schools of France to improve the status of applied arts and training. Read More →
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MARS (Modern Architectural Research Group) (1933 – 1957)
The MARS Group, or Modern Architectural Research Group, was a British architectural think tank created in 1933 by numerous famous architects and architectural critics participating in the British modernist movement. The MARS Group was created after several prior but unsuccessful attempts to establish an organization to promote modernist architects in the United Kingdom, similar to…
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École de Nancy – Art Nouveau artisans and designers
Between 1890 and 1914, the École de Nancy, or Nancy School, was a group of Art Nouveau artisans and designers based in Nancy, France. The furniture designer Louis Majorelle, the cabinet maker and glass artist Jacques Grüber, the glass and furniture designer Émile Gallé, and the Daum crystal factory were important contributors.Read More →
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American Designers’ Gallery (1928) Design Group -Decorative Arts
The American Designer’s Gallery was founded in New York in 1928 to promote high aesthetic standards in the modern decorative arts and support designers’ professional standing. Its headquarters were located at the gallery of interior designer and decorator Paul Frankl.Read More →
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“Arbeitsrat für Kunst” art and architecture group in Germany
The Arbeitsrat für Kunst (Workers’ Council for Art) was an art and architecture organisation in Germany.Read More →
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Superstudio (1966 – 1978) Italian avant-garde design group
Superstudio was an avant-garde architectural and design group that was closely linked to the Radical Design movement in Italy. Founded by Adolfo Natalini and Cristiano Toraldo di Francia in Florence in December 1966.Read More →
You may also be interested in
Royal Academy of the Arts – Encyclopedia of Design
They have a lot in common with museums and other galleries, but as an academy they have a wider position to play – to encourage not just the appreciation and understanding of art, but also its practise. Like the founders of the Academy, they are still led by many of the greatest artists and architects of the day.
OMK Design and Rodney Kinsman RDI – Encyclopedia of Design
Original furniture by Rodney Kinsman available to buy online from OMK 1965. OMK Design is a British design group. It was established in 1966 by Rodney Kinsman, Jerzy Olejnik, Bryan Morrison. They all trained at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts. The group produced its furniture, including its 1969 T5 chair.
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