Dr Patricia Moore, the internationally renowned designer and gerontologist, has been announced as this year’s World Design Medal winner for her significant contributions to the advancement of the industrial design profession.

Announcing the decision, the World Design Organization (WDO) has issued a media release describing Moore as a pioneering figure in design and a leading authority on consumer lifespan behaviours and requirements.

For a period of three years from 1979 to 1982, she travelled throughout the US and Canada disguised as women of more than 80 years of age. This experience of responding to people, products and environments as an elder enabled an empathetic approach to design that informed much of her future work, from NASA to Whirlpool.

“Patricia represents an inspiration to many, and her decades-long career stands a testament to her commitment to accessible and inclusive design,”  says WDO president David Kusuma. “WDO is honoured to take this opportunity to recognise her leadership, creativity and intellect that, to this day, continue to have a profound impact on the industrial design landscape and the designers of tomorrow.”

Following a public call for nominations, Moore was selected from among a list of nominees representing 11 countries around the world by the World Design Medal Selection Committee. The committee, composed of members of the WDO and Board of Directors and Senators, acknowledged Moore’s many years of dedicated service and her impact on the design community as a whole.

“To live life with the blessing of a creative career is a joy that defies description, but to have the support of the family that is the WDO is the greatest gift of all,” says Moore. “I have no doubt that as we emerge from a crippling global pandemic, the WDO will provide for systematic dignity, equity and recovery with the leadership that can only be achieved by Design.”

The official World Design Medal presentation on 29 June 2022 coincides with World Industrial Design Day.

More information on the World Design Medal can be found by visiting wdo.org/programmes/world-design-medal.

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