Scotland's Centre for Design and Architecture - The Lighthouse - has launched a new award to recognise the design industry.

The Design Impact Award will show the huge contribution that design and innovation makes to the way we live and work.

There will be three categories in the new Lighthouse competition – the Design Impact Award, the Buyer’s Award and the Public Award.

The design sector in Scotland (including fashion and textiles, product design and service design) employs about 11,700 people and contributes £440m in GVA to the economy.

The new awards focus on work which is completed, has found a buyer, or is in use, so the judges can evaluate the benefits that a design or its process can have not just on the economy, but also society, the environment and culture.

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Liz Cameron of Glasgow city council said Scotland’s design sector has “a reputation for innovation and entrepreneurial spirit”.

Frist prize is £5,000 and the winner will contribute to the programme of Scotland’s Design and Architectural Centre for a year

The winning design must do one or more of the following - be innovative; challenge conventions; define and solve a significant problem and/or demonstrate clear user benefits. It will be the task of the panel to weigh the impact a design has had on products, services or spaces and select the winner.

The judging panel will include radio presenter Mariella Frostrup, Caroline Parkinson of Creative Scotland, Philip Long of V&A at Dundee and Kerr Robertson of Glasgow City Council’s regeneration department.

More details on the Design Impact Awards can be found here.