Events | The Guide recommends

London Design Festival at the V&A

There's a huge amount to see here. Upstairs at the Sackler Centre, Susan Trocmé's display devoted to Italian web guru Guilio Cappellini's relationship with UK Design; Stuart Haygarth's site-specific installation on the marble staircase; Oskar Zieta's steel construction in the Madejski Garden, and Max Lamb's sculpted 'plaster monolith'. See the full V&A listing

Five other highlights from the London Design Festival at the V&A programme:
26 Treasures
British galleries 52-58  
Writers from the 26 collective explore 26 objects from the British Galleries in Just 62 words. Contributors include former poet laureate Andrew Motion.
Contemporary Silver at the V&A
A rare opportunity to see silver pieces from the Silver Trust's contemporary Downing Street collection, regularly used at state functions, alongside selected works by members of the Contemporary British Silversmiths.
Hidden V&A iPod tour
A special iPod tour investigates the design history of the V&A, led by V&A buildings historian Geoff Opie. Download from  
iTunes or borrow an iPod from the V&A information centre.
V&A Illustration Awards display Room 74
Celebrating the best illustration published over the last year. Judges on the award include GQ editor Dylan Jones and the comedian and artist Vic Reeves.
Friday late Across the Museum 24 September
Staged in collaboration with the London Design Festival, the monthly V&A Friday late includes a specially designed installation and give-away by Paul Cocksedge entitled A Gust of Wind.

Around the London Design Festival

Outrace at Trafalgar Square 16 - 23 September
The centre point of this year's Festival conceived and developed by designers Clemens Weishaar and Reed Kram.

Size + Matter 18 September - 17 October
This project teams up Paul Cocksedge with a materials manufacturer and stands back to see what happens. One of the Festival's key public projects.

The Design Districts
Over eight years. the Festival has seen a steady increase in the number of design activity hubs.
Brompton Design District including B&B Italia, Skandium, Mint, Nigel Coates and Few and Far
Covent Garden Design District including Aram, Molteni & C and the London Transport Museum
Fitzrovia Creative including the European Design Centre, Ligne Roset, bulthaup and the Langham Hotel
Clerkenwell Design District including Alias, Bene, Cappellini, Modus and Toto

The Anti Design Festival 18 - 26 September
Neville Brody re-writes the Design Festival rules at six venues centred around 28 Redchurch Street.

The Design Museum
From 22 September, Plain Space celebrates one of the country's leading designers, John Pawson.

The Dock 20 - 26 September
Instigated by Tom Dixon, The Dock was one of the hits of the 2009 Festival and returns this year with an equally enticing mix of pop-up shops, installations and product launches.

100% Design 23 - 26 September
100% Design – the event that in may respects blazed the trail for the London Design Festival – is celebrating its 16th year showing over 4,000 designs from British and international companies.

Tent London 23 - 26 September and Origin 23 - 29 September
The East End has long been one of the most important hubs of the London Design Festival, with Tent at its heart since 2007, taking over the Old Truman Brewery. In a major new move Tent has joined forces with the Crafts Council to stage Origin: the London Craft Fair at Old Spitalfields Market.

The Tramshed 22 - 26 September
A new and welcome addition to the Festival this year featuring 15 international brands including Matthew Hilton Studioilse, Autoban, Dick van Hoff, Lief.designpark, plus Benchmark, Decode and more. Rivington Street, Shoreditch.

Talking heads

A strong and significant intellectual spine that runs throughout the nine days. Breakfast Talks with The Times at the V&A includes contributions from Ed Vaizey MP and designer Thomas Heatherwick. Many of the big events including 100% Design and the Anti Design Festival contain seminars and discussions and check out the Tramshed Live's New Directions for Design strand. Others to look out for include The London Transport Museum's short talks on the history of the moquette used across London Underground, and we also like the sound of the D&AD Sharp'ner investigating the art of the fanzine.

The Royal Academy of Engineering, meanwhile, has a slew of lectures. It's worth well checking out Richard Farleigh of Dragon's Den fame providing a personal view of business angels looking to invest in the next big thing, Gareth Jones on the importance of creative engineering and David Quarmby of the RAC Foundation on the future of London's roads.

Emerging designers

New and emerging talent is a key driver of the London Design Festival. See:
100% Futures at 100% Design
The Royal College of Art's five exhibitons showcasing new work and talent
Homework by Mint, featuring 40 new and upcoming designers
Studio Xag at the Arts Gallery in Central St Martins
Emerge's exhibition of posters from 15 up-and-coming designers picked by Dominic Lippa of Pentagram
Made in Design Collective's shop-and-show exhibition at East Gallery