RDI Address 2011:‘Two Forks’ by Dinah Casson RDI, exhibition and interior designer and incoming Master of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry

Dinah Casson, with her partner Roger Mann, have spent the last 16 years designing galleries and exhibitions for museums. During this time they have designed some benchmark projects including the British Galleries at the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Churchill Museum at the Cabinet War Rooms.

As a result of lottery funding, museums have not only changed their approach to how things might be shown, but also how they regard their visitors. Previously considered as a source of dust and silly questions, visitors are now an integral part of the business plan and welcomed at the door as partners.  This shift has both redefined the designer’s brief and ensured that design has become an essential part of an institution’s strategy.  

Dinah Casson will reflect on how such changes have affected the role of the designer since 1936 when the Faculty of Royal Designers was established by the RSA, drawing on her own experiences of growing up in a design-focused household and a career in teaching and practice.  

Prior to the Address, 6 new Royal Designers for Industry (RDI) and 1 Honorary RDI will be welcomed to the Faculty.

The title ‘Royal Designer for Industry’ was introduced by the RSA in 1936 to reward and promote a high standard of industrial design and enhance the status of designers. Now regarded as the highest accolade for designers in the UK, it is awarded annually to those who have achieved sustained design excellence, work of aesthetic value and significant benefit to society. A maximum of two hundred British designers may hold the award given by the RSA at any one time. Additionally, outstanding designers who are non-UK citizens may be Honorary Royal Designers.