The Design Business Association, the UK organization that measures and rates the effectiveness of design in a range of categories by using commercial data to evaluate the success, announced the winners of its annual Design Effectiveness Awards, which included projects by leading design agencies. The ceremony, which was held in London on February 16, brought together 450 industry leaders, who received 62 gold, silver and bronze trophies, awarded by the association this year in 12 categories.

Back in the day when Doris Day ruled the earth, brands just used to shout at us their stories of whiter than white and cleaner than clean. The communication was pretty much all one-way as they blared away on our one and only screen, the TV. We had little choice, either tune in or turn off.

Of course today is not like the 50s. In the enlightened 10s, things are supposedly much more democratic. Now we speak of brands and people being involved in two-way conversations. Our relationships with brands are more sociable and we, the people, are in the driving seat.

Are we on the cusp of a new design aesthetic driven by the need to get fit yet get noticed in the current hyper combative post-recession climate? If so, this climate may be turning architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s mantra ‘less is more’ ever so slightly on its head as the budgets of governments, business and people demand ‘more for less’. But what form might this new aesthetic take over the coming years?

Listening to Radio 5 Live’s breakfast show the other week I heard for the first time the sober thoughts of Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England. Apparently the next decade will not be ‘nice’ (non-inflationary consistent expansion) and that after years of binging it’s now time for us all to sober up (savings, orderly budgets, and equitable rebalancing). It was of course refreshing to hear something other than the Wayne Rooney, ‘is he, isn’t he’ staying at Man U soap opera Mervyn doesn’t exactly inspire you to throw the duvet off and rush into work!