Royal Designers for Industry

Royal Designer for Industry is a distinction established by the British Royal Society of Arts (or RSA) in 1936, to encourage a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. It is awarded to people who have achieved "sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry". Those who are British citizens take the letters RDI after their names, while those who are not become Honorary RDIs (HonRDI). Everyone who holds the distinction is a Member of The Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry (founded in 1938).

Their work is diverse, ranging from fashion to engineering, theatre to product design, graphics to environmental design.

New RDIs are elected annually and the Faculty continues to support initiatives to further excellence in design, including an annual Summer School for innovative young designers.

Only 200 designers may hold the distinction RDI at any time and it is regarded as the highest honour to be obtained in the United Kingdom in a diverse range of design disciplines including the field of industrial design. In addition, the RSA may confer HonRDI titles up to a maximum of half the number of people who currently hold the distinction RDI.

New RDIs are awarded Diplomas each year at the annual RDI Dinner. Every two years a new Master of the Faculty is elected by the past Masters, who include Dinah Casson, Mike Dempsey, Sir Kenneth Grange, Geoffrey Harcourt, Martin Hunt, Timothy O’Brien and Chris Wise. The current Master is Malcolm Garrett.

Current members

The list identifies current RDIs, the date of their award and the category of design for which they were honoured.

RDIs Name[1] Category Year Adam, Sir KennethSir Kenneth Adam OBE Production design 2009 Arad, RonRon Arad Furniture design 2002 Bailey, DennisDennis Bailey Illustration and design 1980 Barber, EdwardEdward Barber OBE Furniture design 2007 Barnard, JohnJohn Barnard Engineering design 1995 Bellew, PatrickPatrick Bellew Environmental design 2010 Berners-Lee, Sir TimSir Tim Berners-Lee Interaction design 2009 Birdsall, DerekDerek Birdsall Graphic design 1983 Blake, PeterPeter Blake CBE Graphic design 1981 Blake, Sir QuentinSir Quentin Blake CBE Illustration 1987 Blane, SueSue Blane MBE Costume and set design 2005 Brody, NevilleNeville Brody Graphic design 2011 Brookes, PeterPeter Brookes Graphic design 2002 Brown, JulianJulian Brown Product design 1998 Brown, PaulPaul Brown Set & costume design 2013 Calvert, MargaretMargaret Calvert Graphic design 2011 Butler, NicholasNicholas Butler Product design 1981 Callum, IanIan Callum Engineering design 2006 Cameron, DonaldDonald Cameron Engineering design 2004 Carfrae, TristramTristram Carfrae Engineering design 2006 Carter, DavidDavid Carter CBE Product design 1974 Carter, MatthewMatthew Carter Type design 1981 Cartlidge, IanIan Cartlidge Graphic design 2013 Carter, RonRon Carter Furniture design 1971 Casson, DinahDinah Casson Interior design 2005 Chalayan, HusseinHussein Chalayan Fashion Design 2013 Chipperfield, DavidDavid Chipperfield CBE Interior design 2006 Chitty, AlisonAlison Chitty Production design 2009 Clay, JimJim Clay Production design 2009 Clegg, PeterPeter Clegg Architecture 2010 Conran, Sir TerenceSir Terence Conran General design 2010 Craig, StuartStuart Craig OBE Film production design 2004 Crosland, NeishaNeisha Crosland Textile design 2006 Crowley, BobBob Crowley Theatre and film design 1997 Cullinan, EdwardEdward Cullinan CBE Architecture 2010 Dempsey, MikeMike Dempsey Graphic design 1994 Diss, EileenEileen Diss TV and theatre design 1975 Dudley, WilliamWilliam Dudley Theatre design 1988 Dyson, JamesJames Dyson CBE Engineering design 2005 Ellis, EileenEileen Ellis Textile design 1984 Eno, BrianBrian Eno Designing with sound 2012 Esterson, SimonSimon Esterson Graphic design 2001 Farrow, MarkMark Farrow Graphic design 2009 Forbes, ColinColin Forbes Graphic design 1974 Fordham, MaxMax Fordham OBE Engineering design 2008 Foreman, MichaelMichael Foreman Illustration 1985 Foster, NormanNorman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank Interior design 1988 Frean, JennyJenny Frean Textile design 1998 Galliano, JohnJohn Galliano CBE Fashion design 2002 Garrett, MalcolmMalcolm Garrett New media 2000 Gee, NigelNigel Gee Engineering design 2007 Gentleman, DavidDavid Gentleman Stamps 1970 Grange, Sir KennethSir Kenneth Grange CBE General design 1969 Grant, AndrewAndrew Grant Landscape design 2012 Hall, MargaretMargaret Hall OBE Exhibitions 1974 Harcourt, GeoffreyGeoffrey Harcourt Furniture design 1978 Hardie, GeorgeGeorge Hardie Graphic design 2005 Harvey, TimTim Harvey TV Production design 1990 Head, PatrickPatrick Head Engineering design 1993 Heatherwick, ThomasThomas Heatherwick General design 2004 Hecht, SamSam Hecht Production design 2008 Higgins, PeterPeter Higgins Interior design 2009 Hillman, DavidDavid Hillman Graphic design 1997 Hilton, MatthewMatthew Hilton Furniture design 2004 Hollis, RichardRichard Hollis Graphic design 2005 Howell, MargaretMargaret Howell Fashion design 2007 Hudson, RichardRichard Hudson Theatre design 1999 Hulanicki, BarbaraBarbara Hulanicki Fashion design 2009 Hunt, MartinMartin Hunt Ceramics and glass 1981 Irens, NigelNigel Irens Engineering design 2005 Irvine, AlanAlan Irvine Exhibitions & museum design 1964 Ive, Sir JonathanSir Jonathan Ive KBE Product design 2003 Jackson, BettyBetty Jackson Fashion design 1988 Jiricna, EvaEva Jiřičná Interior design 1991 Johnstone, William NeillWilliam Neill Johnstone Textile design 1989 Jones, StephenStephen Jones Millinery 2009 Kelly, BenBen Kelly Interior design 2007 King, PerryPerry King Product design 1990 King, SarahSarah King Textile design 2008 Kinsman, RodneyRodney Kinsman Furniture design 1990 Kirk, GeoffreyGeoffrey Kirk Engineering design 2001 Kitching, AlanAlan Kitching Graphic design 1994 Koltai, RalphRalph Koltai Theatre design 1984 Lambie-Nairn, MartinMartin Lambie-Nairn TV graphics 1987 Law, RogerRoger Law Graphic design and caricature 1999 Lazaridis, StefanosStefanos Lazaridis Theatre design 2003 Levi, SonnySonny Levi Boat design 1987 Levien, RobinRobin Levien Ceramics & glass 1995 Lewis, DavidDavid Lewis Product design 1995 Lloyd, TomTom Lloyd Production design 2008 Lodge, BernardBernard Lodge Film and TV graphics 1982 Lovegrove, RossRoss Lovegrove Product design 2003 Mackie, GeorgeGeorge Mackie Book design 1973 Macfarlane, TimTim Macfarlane Structural engineering design 2004 Major, MarkMark Major Designing with light 2012 Mann, RogerRoger Mann Interior design 2005 Marchbank, PearcePearce Marchbank Graphic design 2004 McConnell, JohnJohn McConnell Graphic design 1987 McDonald, AntonyAntony McDonald Theatre design 2004 McDowell, AlexAlex McDowell Production design 2006 McMurtry, DavidDavid McMurtry CBE Engineering design 1989 Meek, MarshallMarshall Meek Naval architecture 1986 Meeuwissen, TonyTony Meeuwissen Illustration 2013 Morrison, JasperJasper Morrison Furniture design 2001 Mudie, ColinColin Mudie Small craft naval 1995 Napier, JohnJohn Napier Theatre & film design 1996 Newson, MarcMarc Newson CBE General design 2006 Obrien, TimothyTimothy O'Brien Theatre design 1991 Osgerby, JayJay Osgerby OBE Furniture design 2007 Park, NickNick Park CBE Animation 2006 Paton, CharlieCharlie Paton Engineering design 2012 Pawson, JohnJohn Pawson Interior design 2005 Payne, StephenStephen Payne OBE Engineering design 2006 Pearson, DanDan Pearson Landscape design 2012 Pearson, LukeLuke Pearson Product design 2008 Powell, AnthonyAnthony Powell Costume design 1999 Powell, SandySandy Powell Costume design 2013 Quant, MaryMary Quant OBE Dress design 1969 Ramshaw, WendyWendy Ramshaw CBE Jewellery design 1999 Randle, JamesJames Randle Engineering design 1994 Restieaux, MaryMary Restieaux Textile design 2011 Rhodes, ZandraZandra Rhodes CBE Fashion and textiles 1976 Ruffles, PhilipPhilip Ruffles Engineering design 1997 Rylands, PatrickPatrick Rylands Product design 1999 Sandford, RonRon Sandford Illustration 1989 Saville, PeterPeter Saville Graphic design 2011 Scarfe, GeraldGerald Scarfe CBE Illustration 1989 Schwartzman, ArnoldArnold Schwartzman OBE Graphic design 2006 Smith, PaulPaul Smith CBE Fashion design 1978 Armstrong-Jones, AntonyAntony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon Photography 1986 Stanton, AlanAlan Stanton Interior design 2005 Tye, AlanAlan Tye RIBA Product design 1986 Etzdorf, Georgina vonGeorgina von Etzdorf Textile design 1995 Walker, StuartStuart Walker Film and TV design 1998 Waterfall, SimonSimon Waterfall Interaction design 2007 Watkins, DavidDavid Watkins Jewellery design 2010 Westwood, VivienneVivienne Westwood DBE Fashion design 2001 Wheeler, RaymondRaymond Wheeler Engineering design 1995 Wigglesworth, SarahSarah Wigglesworth Architecture 2012 Wilkie, KimKim Wilkie Landscape design 2009 Williams, PaulPaul Williams Interior design 2009 Wise, ChrisChris Wise Structural engineering 1998 Wolff, MichaelMichael Wolff Graphic design 2011 Woodgate, TerenceTerence Woodgate Furniture design 2003 Woodroffe, PatrickPatrick Woodroffe Designing with light 2013 Zahedi, SaeedSaeed Zahedi OBE Engineering design 2013

HonRDIs Name[2] Category Year Arai, JunichiJunichi Arai Textile design 1987 Baron, FabienFabien Baron Graphic design 2000 Bellini, MarioMario Bellini General design 1991 Blahnik, ManoloManolo Blahnik Shoe design 2001 Branzi, AndreaAndrea Branzi General design 2008 Carpenter, JamesJames Carpenter Glass design 2008 Chermayeff, IvanIvan Chermayeff Graphic design 1991 Chwast, SeymourSeymour Chwast Graphic design 2005 Citterio, AntonioAntonio Citterio General design 2007 Cooper, KyleKyle Cooper Film and TV graphics 2001 Crouwel, WimWim Crouwel Graphic design 1998 Edelkoort, LidewijLidewij Edelkoort Design forecasting 2013 Esslinger, HartmutHartmut Esslinger Product design 2013 Diffrient, NielsNiels Diffrient Furniture design 1987 Fanelli, SaraSara Fanelli Illustration 2006 Fotopoulos, DionysisDionysis Fotopoulos Theatre and film design 1992 Fukasawa, NaotoNaoto Fukasawa Product design 2007 Gerstner, KarlKarl Gerstner Graphic design 2006 Glaser, MiltonMilton Glaser Graphics 1979 Grcic, KonstantinKonstantin Grcic Furniture design 2009 Greenberg, BobBob Greenberg Interaction design 2012 Gustafson, KathrynKathryn Gustafson Landscape and gardens 2001 Hofmann, ArminArmin Hofmann Illustration 1968 Holscher, KnudKnud Holscher Product design 2004 Iwai, ToshioToshio Iwai Interaction design 2012 Kawakubo, ReiRei Kawakubo Fashion design 2001 Kramer, FrisoFriso Kramer Furniture 1979 Kukkapuro, YrjoYrjö Kukkapuro Furniture design 2002 Larsen, Jack LenorJack Lenor Larsen Textile design 1983 Lupi, ItaloItalo Lupi Graphic design 2002 Magnussen, ErikErik Magnussen Furniture & product 2001 Mari, EnzoEnzo Mari Product design 2000 Mariscal, JavierJavier Mariscal General design 2006 Mau, BruceBruce Mau Graphic design 2011 Maurer, IngoIngo Maurer Lighting design 2005 Meda, AlbertoAlberto Meda Product design 2005 Missoni, OttavioOttavio Missoni Textile design 1997 Missoni, RositaRosita Missoni Textile design 1997 Miyake, IsseyIssey Miyake Fashion design 1988 Monguzzi, BrunoBruno Monguzzi Graphic design 2003 Morandini, MarcelloMarcello Morandini Ceramic design 2004 Moritz, UlfUlf Moritz Textile design 2004 Nurmesniemi, VuokkoVuokko Nurmesniemi Fashion and textiles 1988 Pininfarina, SergioSergio Pininfarina Automotive design 1983 Pollack, MarkMark Pollack Textile design 2007 Rams, DieterDieter Rams Electrical appliances and furniture 1968 Roope, TomasTomas Roope Interaction design 2012 Sapper, RichardRichard Sapper Product design 1988 Schwartz, MarthaMartha Schwartz Landscape design 2009 Sempe, Jean-JacquesJean-Jacques Sempé Illustration 1989 Sendak, MauriceMaurice Sendak Illustration 1986 Sottsass, EttoreEttore Sottsass Product design 1999 Spiekermann, ErikErik Spiekermann Type design 2007 Tallon, RogerRoger Tallon General design 1973 Tosi, PieroPiero Tosi Costume design 2007 Van Noted, DriesDries van Noten Fashion design 2008 Vignelli, MassimoMassimo Vignelli General design 1996 Virlogeux, MichelMichel Virlogeux Engineering design 2006 Yamamoto, YohjiYohji Yamamoto Fashion design 2006 Yanagi, SoriSori Yanagi General design 2008 Zapf, HermannHermann Zapf Type design 1985 Zumthor, PeterPeter Zumthor Architecture 2012 Zeisel, EvaEva Zeisel Ceramic design 2004

Former members

Past RDIs Past Royal Designers for Industry [3] Tony Abbott, Television & theatre design, 1972 Hardy Amies, Dress design, 1964 Edward Abbott, Illustration, 1974 Jon Bannenberg, Motor yachts, 1978 Christian Barnard, Transport equipment, 1948 Edward Bawden, Graphics, 1949 Gerald Benney, Silversmithing, 1971 Misha Black, Exhibitions & interiors, 1957 John Box, Film production design, 1992 Bill Brandt, Photography, 1978 William Brown, Bridge design, 1977 Stefan Buzas, Exhibitions & interiors, 1961 Reco Capey, General design, 1937 Hugh Casson, Exhibitions, 1961 Achille Castiglioni, General design, 1986 Hulme Chadwick, Product design, 1974 Colin Chapman, Automotive design, 1979 Wells Coates, General design, 1944 Christopher Cockerell, Engineering design, 1987 Douglas Cockerell, Bookbinding, 1936 Susie Cooper, Pottery, 1940 Kay Cosserat, Textile design, 1986 Edward Gordon Craig, Stage design, 1937 Gordon Cullen, Illustration & townscape design, 1975 Robin Day, Furniture & exhibitions, 1959 Lucienne Day, Textiles, 1962 Richard Eckersley, Book design, 1999 Tom Eckersley, Posters, 1963 Alan Fletcher, Graphics & publicity design, 1972 Uffa Fox, Small boats, 1955 Barnett Freedman, Graphics, 1949 Roger Furse, Stage & film design, 1949 Abram Games, Posters, 1959 James Gardener, Exhibitions, 1947 J Laurent Giles, Yachts, 1951 Eric Gill, Typography & wood engraving, 1936 Robert Goodden, General design, 1947 Duncan Grant, Printed textiles, 1941 Eileen Gray, Furniture & interiors, 1972 Milner Gray, Packaging, 1937 E W Grieve, Shop window display, 1940 Jacqueline Groag, Textile design, 1964 Edmund Happold, Engineering design, 1983 Geoffrey de Havilland, Aircraft, 1944 Ashley Havinden, Graphics, 1947 Lionel Haworth, Engineering design, 1976 Ambrose Heal, Furniture, 1939 F H K Henrion, Packaging & graphics, 1959 Jocelyn Herbert, Theatre & cinema design, 1971 Robert Heritage, Furniture, 1963 George Him, Graphic design, 1977 James Hogan, Glass & stained glass, 1936 Paul Hogarth, Illustration, 1979 Charles Holden, Transport equipment, 1943 Jack Howe, Products and industrial equipment, 1961 Ian Hutt, Typographic & Newspaper design, 1970 James Irvine, Product design, 2004 Laurence Irving, date tbc Alec Issigonis, Motor cars, 1964 Natasha Kroll, Shop display and television design, 1966 Lynton Lamb, Book design & illustration, 1974 Osbert Lancaster, Illustration, 1979 Margaret Leischner, Textiles, 1969 Richard Levin, Television design, 1971 Noel London, Engineering product design, 1973 William Lyons, Motor cars, 1964 Ethel Mairet, Woven textiles, 1937 (first woman)[4] Eric de Maré, Photography, 1997 Enid Marx, Pattern design, 1944 J H Mason, 1936 James McNeill, Ships, 1950 David Mellor, Silver, cutlery & lighting, 1962 Percy Metcalfe, Medals & coinage, 1937 Francis Meynell, Typography, 1940 Bill Moggridge, Product design, 1988 Edward Molyneux, Dress, 1950 Stanley Morison, Type design & typography, 1960 Alastair Morton, textiles, 1960 Alex Moulton, Engineering Products, 1968 Jean Muir, Dress design, 1972 H G Murphy, Goldsmithing, 1936 Keith Murray, Glass, pottery & silver, 1936 Charles Nicholson, Yachts, 1944 Julia Trevelyan Oman, Theatre & film design, 1977 Brian O'Rorke, Interiors, 1939 Eric Carlton Ottaway, Road passenger vehicles, 1949 Derek Prime, Engineering design, 1982 Ian Proctor, Boats & small craft, 1969 Tom Purvis, Commercial art, 1936 Ernest Race, Furniture, 1953 A B Read, Light fittings, 1940 A A Rubbra, Engineering design, 1977 Gordon Russell, Furniture, 1940 R D Russell, Furniture, 1944 Hans Schleger, Exhibition display & packaging, 1959 Mr Hans Schmoller, Typography, 1976 Douglas Scott, Industrial designer, 1974 Ronald Searle, Illustration, 1991 George Sheringham, Interior decoration & textiles, 1936 Peter Simpson, Woven Textile design, 1974 Percy Delf Smith, Lettering, 1940 Basil Spence, Exhibitions & interiors, 1960 Herbert Spencer, Typography, 1965 Harold Stabler, Pottery, Enamelling & silversmithing, 1936 Richard Stevens, Product design, 1973 Reynolds Stone, Lettering, 1956 Marianne Straub, Woven textiles, 1972 Derek Sugden, Engineering design, 2009 Fred Taylor, Graphics, 1936 Philip Thompson, Graphics & illustration, 1997 Walter Tracy, Type design, 1973 Howard Upjohn, Engineering product design, 1973 C F A Voysey, Interior decoration, furniture & fabrics, 1936 Barnes Wallis, Aircraft, 1943 Allan Walton, Printed textiles, 1940 Neville Ward, Interior design & ship interiors, 1971 John Waterer, Leather Goods, 1953 Hans Wegner, Furniture, 1969 Robert Welch, Product design & silversmithing, 1965 Frank Whittle, Engineering design, 1985 Berthold Wolpe, Typefaces & lettering, 1959 Anna Zinkeisen, Graphics & mural painting, 1940

Past Honorary RDIs Past Honorary Royal Designers for Industry [3] Edward McKnight Kauffer, Commercial art, 1936 Alvar Aalto, General design, 1947 Franco Albini, Interiors, exhibitions & furniture, 1971 Gordon Andrews, General design, 1987 Saul Bass, Film & TV graphics, 1964 Herbert Bayer, Graphic design, 1984 Richard Buckminster Fuller, Architecture & design, 1980 Nanna Ditzel, Product design, 1996 Charles Eames, Furniture, exhibitions & interiors, 1960 Jean-Michel Folon, Illustration, 1981 André François, Graphics 1974 Shigeo Fukada, Graphic design, 1986 Alexander Girard, Interiors, exhibitions & furnishing textiles, 1965 Walter Gropius, General design, 1947 Edward Hald, Glass, 1939 Walter Herdeg, Graphic design, 1976 Christian Joachim, Pottery, 1939 CL 'Kelly' Johnson, Aircraft design, 1984 Finn Juhl, Furniture & interiors, 1978 Dora Jung, Woven textiles, 1979 Kaare Klint, Furniture, 1949 Takashi Kono, Graphics, 1983 Raymond Loewy, General design, 1939 Vico Magistretti, General design, 1992 Pierre Mendell, Graphic design, 1999 Bruno Mathsson, Furniture, 1978 Herbert Matter, Graphics & photography, 1982 Norman McLaren, Film Animation, 1986 Børge Mogensen, Furniture, 1972 Josef Muller-Brockmann, Graphic design, 1988 George Nelson, General design, 1973 Marcello Nizzoli, Typewriters & calculating machines, 1961 Antti Nurmesniemi, General design, 1986 Sigurd Persson, General design, 1987 Battista Farina, Motor cars, 1954 Paul Rand, Graphics, 1973 Steen Eiler Rasmussen, General design, 1947 Astrid Sampe, Textile design, 1949 WHJB Sandberg, Exhibition & museum display, typography, 1971 Timo Sarpaneva, Pottery & textiles, 1963 Carlo Scarpa, Exhibitions, interiors & museum design, 1969 Saul Steinberg, Illustration, 1980 Olin Stephens, Yacht design, 1975 Josef Svoboda, Theatre design, 1989 Ilmari Tapiovaara, Furniture, 1969 Walter Dorwin Teague, General design, 1951 Henryk Tomaszewski, Graphics, 1975 Roland Topor, Illustration, 1988 Jan Tschichold, Typography & book design, 1965 Tapio Wirkkala, Glass, wood & silver, 1964 Henry Wolf, Graphic design, 1990 Piet Zwart, Typography, 1966

References

1. "Current Royal designers". RSA. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
2. "Current Honorary Royal Designers". RSA. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
3. "Past Royal Designers for Industry". RSA. Retrieved 12 July 2015.
4. Margot Coatts, ‘Mairet , Ethel Mary (1872–1952)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2007 accessed 19 Oct 2015

External links

• The Royal Designers for Industry
• University of Brighton Design Archives