Judges' winner: Dyson Air Multiplier Fan

Winner Dyson Air Multiplier Fan
Designed by Sir James Dyson

The Homes & Gardens Classic Design Awards are unmatched within the interior design and publishing industries. The judging panel comprises an experienced team of 25 headed by Homes & Gardens editor Deborah Barker, with the design writer, Barbara Chandler, as chair. The judges are all conscientious, dedicated, focused and highly critical and, between them, they offer many decades of design experience.

The judging process begins when Homes & Gardens, the chair and the consultant judges trawl all new domestic design launched in the previous year with a wide-ranging net, which yields possibilities of the highest calibre. These are then sifted at group discussions and a shortlist is drawn up. The products are then submitted to category judges who mark them using specified criteria. Contestants come from a variety of backgrounds, from newly qualified designers to major industry names with celebrity status. Nominations are accepted from a variety of sources: from the judges themselves, the makers/designers and their publicity/advertising consultants, and our ever-vigilant readers. Indeed, at least one reader's nomination made it on to the shortlist this year.

Our winner this year has a triple presence within the Awards, a feat which is unique in their history. Sir James Dyson has already won the Award for Innovation and for Lifetime Achievement. The judges also unanimously agreed that the Dyson Air Multiplier should win their own special award. They made comments such as: "This product is an outstanding breakthrough in product design;" "I shall yearn for this next summer;" and "It's almost too cool to believe."

Sir James Dyson, triple award winner for 2010, we salute you.

Find out who came up top at this year’s Designer Awards by visiting our Homes & Gardens Designer Awards hub. Meet the judges, flick through winners’ profiles and watch backstage videos from the day.

Chosen by Homes & Gardens