A lot of rumble in the design community recently. Hillary Cottam from UK Design Council’s RED unit won the Designer of the Year award and it seems not all designers think she’s that great. A lot of vague arguments though, for example just saying that she worked with a lot of people is a very bad argument - what designer works just by himself today? No one really.
But the major topic here is that people claim that Cottam is not a designer. Not a designer in the typical sense that is. Cottam has done a lot of work in the fields of "new design", much like the topics we cover here. Design as a tool to solve problems, not just shape products. Cottam and RED has done a lot of work in this and she really deserve this prize. It is not just a victory for Cottam, but a victory for "new design".
Congratulations Hillary, if I were you I wouldn’t listen to all the critics - they’re still stuck in the stone age! 
More coverage at Thackara, Lombardi, Core77, The Observer and ofcourse RED.
One comment so far
Amen to that. As i will be joining the ranks of the Design Council this summer for an internship, it gives me great pleasure that she should win the award not only for her work on this year’s project but mostly for her impact and drive at the DC since she has been there.
And someone has to inform the community that most interesting design doesnt necessarily happen through people with formal design training… its what you do, not where you’ve been.
Hurrah