Designs of the Year 2012

Verdict: Worth a look

Where: Design Museum, Bermondsey

When: 8 February – 4 July 2012

Designs can be pragmatic or artistic, simple or complex, modifications or innovations. So which one deserves to be crowned the design of the year?

The Design Museum has an exhibition of the shortlisted candidates and they range from the household to the world of fashion and through to technology.

Despite all the weird and wonderful inventions on display last year, the winner was a light bulb so it's no surprise to find light fixtures aplenty this year though the spinning light sculpture definitely stands out.

There are plenty of simple but useful items such as the school desk that can protect children from collapsing ceilings during earthquakes. The best designs are often those that make you wonder why it hasn't been done before – such as the new ambulance designed for ease of use that should make treating patients a lot easier.

Included are plenty of mass appeal designs such as the Xbox Kinect and the Duchess of Cambridge's wedding dress – just a patch of material, not the whole thing.

The overall winner will be decided in April, and judging by past winners, it could be any of the contenders.