Samuel Wilkinson and Hulger, Plumen 001 Lightbulb Overall winner of the Brit Insurance Design Awards 2011

A bright idea: the Plumen 001 Lightbulb wins the Design Award

The stylish Plumen 001 low energy lightbulb wins the best design of the year at the Brit Insurance Design Awards for its ability to bring the extraordinary to the ordinary

British designer Samuel Wilkinson and product design company Hulger have won the Brit Insurance Design of the Year for their low engery lightbulb, Plumen 001. Phaidon.com spotted the potential of this designer lightbulb back in September.

The winners were presented with the trophy - designed by Ross Lovegrove - today by Stephen Bayley, this year's Jury Chair.

The Plumen 001 was selected as the winning design of the year from over 90 shortlisted entries from seven categories which included designs such as the Apple iPad, Transport for London and Serco's Barclays Cycle Hire and the Jil Sander and Uniqlo collaboration, Uniqlo +J.

"The Plumen 001 lightbulb is a good example of the ordinary thing done extraordinarily well," explained Bayley, "it brings a small measure of delight to an everyday object."

Working to dispel the common thought that low-energy lightbulbs cannot be stylish, the Plumen 001 is a beautifully designed lightbulb. As well as being designed to be seen, the bent glass tubes use 80% less energy and last eight times longer than an incandescent bulb.

Deyan Sudjic, director of the Design Museum described the winning design as "a worthy winner that is both beautiful and smart. It does away with the superfluous to achieve maximum economy of means. It’s a bulb that doesn’t need a shade and so goes a long way to make up for the loss of the Edison original." 

The Plumen 001 is currently on show at London's Design Museum as part of the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year shortlisted designs exhibition, until 7 August 2011.