2008 London Design Festival

By 2008 the economic climate was starting to change. Significantly though, both the number of events and the number of visitors to the Festival held steady – an estimated 300,000 visitors to 215 public projects and shows. The Size + Matter strand continued at the South Bank, with David Adjaye creating an American Tulipwood installation, Scelera, while the Festival also moved into a new public space, Somerset House, installing Fredrickson Stallard's Portrait, made from Corton steel.

Ranging from the established shows such as 100% Design at Earl's Court, Tent London in the East End and Designersblock in Covent Garden to the more quirky fringe shows, pop up shops, talks and one day events the city came alive to celebrate design excellence.

Many of the fringe shows, pop up shops and installations, talks and one-day events attracted large numbers of visitors drawn to the freshest design ideas available. The Festival team linked up with the Southbank Centre to develop a programme of events including The Business of Design talks series with The Financial Times, Digital Design Day in association with Carrenza and the Eureka exhibition with Design Nation.

This year's prestigious London Design Medal was won by Marc Newson, who accepted his accolade at a gala dinner hosted by Philips de Pury & Company and sponsored by Aston Martin.

The third London Design Embassy - the ultimate meeting place and "hub" for the Festival - was stylishly executed by Barber Osgerby and supported by the Charme Group. It attracted a wide range of visitors from all over the world, many of whom travelled to London assisted by UK Trade & Investment to do business with UK designers. The Design Embassy also housed the Festival's Press Office, which was much appreciated by the large number of international press, from as far afield as Serbia, Ukraine, South Korea and Russia, who covered the Festival.

At the Festival's opening reception at The Royal Festival Hall, Peter Mandelson, then EU Trade Commissioner, spoke about the importance of innovation and creative instinct and declared "nobody does it better than London, which is a magnet for creative talent from around the world and a global hub for the creative industries". He added "made in London and the UK is a brand we're rightly proud of, and a healthy design industry is absolutely key to that."

The issue of sustainability moved into the mainstream, with The Design Council's series of Greengaged talks and workshops and events and exhibitions by the sustainability agency [re]design.