Homes and Gardens

Technology plays an increasingly important part in our everyday lives, yet few designers have understood the need to humanise hardware for the home environment. The judges felt that the winning product represented a key direction for domestic design. British designer Jonathon Ive heads Apple's mainly British creative team who have led the way in 'soft technology' with items such as the beautifully simple iPod MP2 Player. This sleek object, no bigger than a pack of cards, can store an entire music collection of up to 4,000 tracks, as well as diary dates, addresses and files from a desktop computer. It's easy to use with a touch-sensitive scroll wheel, which allows access to music by playlist, artists, album, genre or song title. With no moving parts, it is less vulnerable to dust, dirt or sand, and has been designed to retain its crisp appearance throughout its lifespan.

The son of a silversmith and woodworker, Jonathan Ive studied product design at Newcastle, then worked with Clive Grinyer at the Tangerine consultancy in London on domestic product projects before moving to the US to lead the creative team at Apple.