The Architecture, Design, Fashion team give their pick of the best of this year's London Design Festival:

1.The Tournament by Jaime Hayon

As one strode up to the bizarre giant chessboard in Trafalgar Square Jaime Hayon’s oversized pieces glistened in the autumn sunshine; their beauty, stature and craftsmanship belying earlier thoughts of gimmickry and marketing. The pieces - handmade and in his usual idiosyncratic style – were moved around the board by Design Festival staff under the direction of public players seated on cocoon-like thrones. A very pleasing spectacle indeed.

2.In Praise of Shadows

This delightful exhibition, curated by Jane Withers for Eunic, presented a range of new light pieces by designers from across Europe in response to a new European directive to phase out the humble incandescent lightbulb. The work on show was diverse in both scale and material, ranging from the hypnotic, sinewy installation Sonumbra, by LoopPH, and Pieke Bergmans exquisite, melting giant glass bulbs to the brilliant film by French eco-activists Clan du Neon, who creep around Paris at night switching off illuminated signs. The real star of the show, however, was the Jones Gallery itself. Made dark and brooding, the carefully placed lights revealed the permanent collection in tantilising and shadowy glimpses.  

3.The Dock by Tom Dixon

The Dock by Tom Dixon opened by Portobello Dock in a beautifully redeveloped Victorian industrial building. The Canal Building was the highlight of The Dock and hosted Thorsten van Elten, Industrial Facility and Andre Klauser's and Ed Carpenter's newly launched company Very Good and Proper. Very Good & Proper exhibited the Canteen line of furniture including the Utility Chair, a colourful reinvention of the ubiquitous school chair.

4.Richard Lamb: The Everyday Life Collector

Presented by Appartamento Magazine this temporary exhibition-cum-shop captured and shared the idea that good design should be for everyday and for everyone. Selected pieces from Richard Lamb’s collection of British studio pottery and 20th Century ceramics from the 1960s - 1990s, slowly accumulated over 15 years, were on display with the majority available for purchase alongside a few pieces, significant to the collection, shown for the first time in the exhibition.

5.Grassworks by Jair Straschnow at Aram Gallery

Israeli born Jair Straschnow’s bamboo prototypes made a practical and aesthetic feature of the dovetail joint, bringing together Japanese woodwork with Western joinery. Attention to detail and utility characterised the furniture on show, which is designed for flat-pack delivery and dry self-assembly (no glue).

6.SORT Pop-up letterpress studio

SORT (the Society Of Revisionist Typographers) created a pop-up studio complete with four antique printing presses. A highly enjoyable experience where visitors could watch the designers at work, buy bespoke print and even try their hand at letterpress themselves with individual tutorials offering an introduction to this traditional printing process.

7.London Fashion Week September 2009

London Fashion Week’s 25th anniversary brought big British talent – Burberry Prorsum, Matthew Williamson, Jonathan Saunders and Pringle – back to the capital. Somerset House was the new location for the most popular and commercially successful LFW in a decade, coinciding with Showstudio’s innovative exhibition Fashion Revolution.

8.Typographica, Kemistry Gallery

This first exhibition of the graphic design journal founded by Herbert Spencer in 1949, curated by Rick Poynor documented the history and success of the groundbreaking publication. Visitors were able to not only learn about the history and context of the publication but also to experience the content for themselves, with the entire set of journals presented alongside extracts of articles and photo-stories to read.

9.Okay Studio and Friends at Mother

Okay Studio and friends produced an exhibition of typically simple but beautifully crafted products with an injection of humour. On show was a combination of products inviting interaction, such as Andrew Haythornthwaite and Jordi Canudas’ giant sausage for processing paperwaste, and discussion (Ed Swan's ‘Marmoreus Light’) as well as those that were just straightforward examples of good design (Oscar Narud’s ‘Heal tables’).

10.KIOSK NYC at SCP / Jugs, Jars and Pitchers at Jasper Morrison Shop  

Sharp-eyed retailers Alisa Grifo and Marco Romeny of New York shop Kiosk presented their wonderful world of the everday at SCP in east London. British designer Michael Marriott created the plywood and storage crate display system and each object was personally captioned by Grifo and Romeny revealing the stories behind each international find. Over the road at Jasper Morrison’s new shop, another carefully considered collection of timeless domestic objects was on show. Both shops were packed with frenzied shoppers keen to pick up everything from classic Finnish flasks to perfectly formed glassware and cutlery.    

11.Seating for Eating by Studio Ilse at Leila’s Shop

Quality and craftsmanship was the order of the day at Leila’s shop and café, which showcased new yet familiar English vernacular-inspired furniture designed by Studio Ilse and produced by Portuguese manufacturer De La Espada. The range of chestnut settles, benches and stools were put to good use during a series of specially conceived Kitchen Table talks that considered the links between food and community.

12.Gallery Libby Sellers presents Dick van Hoff, Elements

In a pop-up gallery situated in a renovated parking garage in the Brompton Quarter, Libby Sellers showed a collection centred on the importance of the hearth as the nucleus of domestic life. Amongst the exhibits were an elegant tile stove for Royal Tichelaar Makkum (with Weltevree) and crystal glass vessels produced in collaboration with Dutch manufacturer Royal Leerdam, all of which highlighted van Hoff’s minute attention to detail.

13.This Happened

This Happened hosted their eighth London event as part of London Digital Week activities. The event saw Jenhui Liao, Dotmancando, Alexander Grünsteidl and Shajay Bhoosham each present their recent projects to the local interaction design community. The growing success of these events lies in their encouragement of greater openness among designers, with established practitioners, companies and students sharing their experiences, methods and ideas to benefit the community as a whole.