Hugo Macdonald
Hugo is a design critic, curator and the co-founder of Bard, a gallery in Edinburgh dedicated to Scottish design and craft. A long-serving member of the Wallpaper* family, he has also been the design editor at Monocle and the brand director at Studioilse, Ilse Crawford's multi-faceted design studio. Today, Hugo wields his pen and opinions for a broad swathe of publications and panels. He has twice curated both the Object section of MIART (the Milan Contemporary Art Fair) and the Harewood House Biennial. He consults as a strategist and writer for clients ranging from Airbnb to Vitra, Ikea to Instagram, Erdem to The Goldsmith's Company. Hugo has this year returned to the Wallpaper* fold to cover the parental leave of Rosa Bertoli as Global Design Director.
Latest articles by Hugo Macdonald
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This Flexform armchair, inspired by the uplifted lapels of a jacket, is a calculation in comfort
The ‘Eri’ armchair by Fumie Shibata for Flexform wins 'Best Comfort Zone' in the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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This curvy stovetop espresso maker brings a shot of artistry to your coffee ritual
‘The Anticline’ stovetop espresso maker by Cultivation Objects takes its name from a geological formation and wins a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025 for its curves
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Florim’s new ceramic surface collection is an ode to tactility
A primal pleasure, Matteo Thun and Benedetto Fasciana’s SensiTerre collection of ceramic flooring and cladding surfaces for Florim is a Wallpaper* Design Award winner
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Isabel + Helen on bringing the Wallpaper* Design Awards to life
Step behind the scenes of the Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 cover. Designed by Isabel + Helen, it is a welcome reminder that we still have magic in our own minds and hands
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: Formafantasma revisits the masculine codes of modernist design
Formafantasma wins a Wallpaper* Design Award 2025, for its Milan exhibition ‘La Casa Dentro’, which took to task the inherent masculinity and conservatism at the heart of modernism
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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We feel a growing passion for MycoWorks, the company inspiring beauty with fungal-based biomaterial
Reishi is a Wallpaper* Design Award winner, a new self-growing, biodegradable material by MycoWorks presented in a series of exquisite expressions of earthy and ethereal furniture, lighting and artworks
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Sleep happily ever after on Carl Hansen & Søn’s reissue of a Kaare Klint bed
Carl Hansen & Søn’s ‘Spherical’ bed is a worthy Wallpaper* Design Award 2025 winner, celebrating both the past and the future in one fell swoop
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Discover Interni Venosta, the new furniture label where craft and beauty speak for themselves
Interni Venosta, the new furniture label of Emiliano Salci and Britt Moran, is a perfectly pitched celebration of craft, quality and nostalgia- winning a Wallpaper* Design Award
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025: the best furniture and design objects for 2025
The Wallpaper* Design Awards 2025 present the best new furniture and interior accessories, while global design director Hugo Macdonald and head of interiors Olly Mason reveal what makes a winner
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Year in review: top 10 furniture launches of 2024, as selected by Wallpaper* global design director Hugo Macdonald
The furniture launches that wowed global design director Hugo Macdonald this year
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Christmas gift ideas for design lovers
Wallpaper* global design director Hugo Macdonald compiles his festive wish list – from Poltrona Frau's luxurious dog leads to Carl Aubock's wicker magazine wall rack
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Johanna Seelemann and Robert Damisch use design as a tool to carve a future for the craft community of their homeland
Designers Johanna Seelemann and Robert Damisch tell us about their 'fascination for unravelling the objects that we might take for granted' and finding an answer to unite both craft and design
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Complex and stimulating, Federico Stefanovich's industrial designs act like a bridge between culture and economics
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here Federico Stefanovich tells us about his increasing desire to find his own path
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Amelia Stevens' playful, minimalist design 'is geared towards beauty as a function of longevity'
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Amelia Stevens about the multi-disciplinary joy of design
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Olorunfemi Adewuyi's community-oriented design honours local culture and tradition
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Olorunfemi Adewuyi on his thoughts on how design has a social and democratic impetus
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Design practice Astraeus Clarke is inspired by cinema to tell a story and evoke an emotion
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Chelsie and Jacob Starley the creative duo behind Astraeus Clarke
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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For Agnes Studio 'what matters is the emotional part: how you connect with design and designed objects'
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Agnes Studio about revitalising local traditions
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Stars ascending: 10 emerging designers to have on your radar
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. We profile ten creatives forging their own paths to success
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Alfred Lowe's joyful ceramics examine landscape and identity
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Alfred Lowe about his colourful ceramics
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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A theatrical and poetic vision meets minimalism in Pauline Leprince's interior design
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here Pauline Leprince tells us about utilising her imagination as a powerful design ally
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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'I have to be hands on or I don’t understand the material potential' Marc Sweeney's tactile practice
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Marc Sweeney about using design to inspire self-respect and motivation
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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‘I began experimenting and haven’t really stopped,’ Miranda Keyes on working with glass
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Miranda Keyes about her forging her own path to success
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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For designer and craftsman Kodai Iwamoto 'good design should be able to speak for itself'
In a rapidly changing world, the route designers take to discover their calling is increasingly circuitous. Here we speak to Kodai Iwamoto about the interconnectedness of design, communication and culture
By Hugo Macdonald Published
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Out of office: what the Wallpaper* editors have been doing this week
A snowy Swiss Alpine sleepover, a design book fest in Milan, and a night with Steve Coogan in London – our editors' out-of-hours adventures this week
By Bill Prince Published